Skyfall
by Bishieluver01
Summary: Six months after Schwartz, Norma comes back from a trip to the mainland with a mysterious relic in tow. Soon after, the peace around the Legacy begins to unravel as Gadoria wages war with Rexalia. An ancient superweapon is discovered, Werites Beacon is attacked and Norma is struggling with weird fluttery feelings towards her blond roommate... Wait, what? Glitter in the Air Sequel!
1. Homecoming

_Heya all readers old and new, and welcome to the sequel to Glitter in the Air! After a few years full of family problems, a few different jobs and writing original novels, I finally forced myself to upload the first chapter. At some point, I had to just accept it will never be perfect and just upload it, so if there are issues in it blame my bad editing. Either way, I've poured blood, sweat, tears and hard work into it and I really REALLY hope you all love it as much as I've had writing it! Especially since this story is actually part ROMANCE instead of Friendship like the last one, and I SUCK at writing romance._

 _Chapters are all very long too; this one used to be in the ten-thousand range before I had to split it up. Trust me, this is the shortest it gets; most of the other ones range anywhere between six to ten thousand words and that's a LOT of words to write and edit! So, updates will be around two weeks to a month in between. Story is already written but it takes a long time for me to edit anything, so don't worry about a lack of updates. I just write fast and edit slow, especially since this was originally a NaNoWriMo fic and it was rife with mistakes and scenes that had to be rewritten or cut altogether._

 _Also a fair note: This begins with a time skip. Around six months after the end of the game and a few weeks more since GitA. You'll read the reasons why soon enough._

As always, enjoy the read!

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Chapter 1: Homecoming

* * *

Water lapped gently around the coral-red structure in the middle of the small pool. Crystal-clear spring water bubbled up out of the ground, curling around the curves of the stone before flowing down the river towards Werites Beacon. The tall pines around the clearing swayed in the breeze, and the quiet waves of the sea lapped at the shoreline down the nearby hillside. Sunlight sparkled on the glass lanterns of the scattered lampposts around the spring. The air was still and calm; completely peaceful. Once more, Lumen Spring is the location where yet another story begins aboard the Legacy.

Lying against a grassy bank near the spring, a blond man took a rare moment to relax in the sunshine. A faint sea breeze played with the fringe of hair over his closed eyes. Black sleeves clung to wrists tucked behind his head, stretching underneath a sapphire blue tunic with a white symbol adorning the collar.

Idly listening to the wind rustling through the trees and the distant waves, the blond man's fine hearing picked up on the distant sound of tromping footsteps from the direction of Werites Beacon. From the sounds of it, they weren't trying to be stealthy at all. The unknown person walked over and soon he felt their shadow fall over him like an eclipse. His eyebrows furrowed as the warmth left his face, and resisted an urge to give the person an irritated glance.

"Hey Wally, I was tryin' to find ya everywhere! You're a hard guy to find, ya know that?" He heard the drawling tone of the bandit chief Moses cut through the air, and exhaled a sigh of resignation. Lazily, he opened one of his light-blue eyes to stare at him.

Sometime after Schwartz was defeated half a year ago, most of the Fun Bunch had found their nitch in Werites Beacon. Moses Sandor was one of two who lived outside the city walls, the other being Jay the Unseen. Instead of returning to the bandit hideout that was overrun by Vaclav's forces some time ago, Moses and his bandits found a forest in the mountains close to Werites Beacon. The camp stood directly between the Misty Mountains and the nearby city, and the camp was remote enough they could maintain some sort of privacy from the nearby civilians.

Most of the time, Moses hung out with the group in Werites Beacon and let his second-in-command Csaba take care of things. Even a few bandits had begun to integrate with the civilians, including a pair that Walter had no liking for from past disagreements.

"I thought I told you guys to quit calling me that." Walter replied finally, unclasping his arms so he could rub at his eyes. All the sun beaming on his face had made the world dark in comparison, and it took a few moments for the colors to return to normal.

Moses shrugged. "Ya never tell Bubbles that. 'Sides, I thought ya got used to the nickname by now?" The bandit brought up a point. After a while of Norma and Moses refusing to call him anything but his nickname with even Shirley and Grune joining in on occasion, he had gotten used to it. The only reason he really asked anymore was to keep up appearances, even if he had given up on changing their minds a long time ago.

The Ferines sat up and looked up at the bandit, "Why did you come to find me, Moses?"

The redhead shook his head for a moment. "Always straight to the point, aren't ya?" He turned to point in the direction of the coastline, around where Port on Rage was, "Didn't ya forget Bubbles was comin' back today? And here I thought you'd be the first one there."

Realization and a hint of panic flashed across Walter's face and he jumped to the feet, "Her ship comes in today?! What time is it?"

Moses looked up towards the sun, which had already passed the center of the sky and was beginning its downward descent towards the horizon. "Well, I'd say its afternoon… Maybe around two or three, I guess."

"Damnit, I'm late!" The blond exclaimed, and he dashed towards the path to Werites Beacon, leaving the redhead in his dust. A few moments later, Moses had caught up to him as they dashed down the mountain path to Werites Beacon. "Thanks for coming to find me, by the way." He spoke up after the redhead had caught up.

"Hey, what're family for?" Moses grinned back at him.

Walter rolled his eyes in exasperation, "…for the last time, we are not brothers." Even if Jay had gotten over being called his 'little brother', Walter never had. He was older than him for Nerifes' sake!

"Ya keep sayin' that, Wally. Don't mean it ain't true." The redhead remarked.

"Well, it isn't!" He replied as they turned a corner, dashing under a small waterfall.

"….is to!" Moses retorted back playfully.

"Grr… we are not starting that again." Walter grumbled and upped his pace, passing the redhead despite the slight height disadvantage. Moses noticed and ran faster to catch up. Then Walter one-upped him again. Soon it had become an all-out race between the two towards the entrance of Werites Beacon and the duct outside the front gates.

x x x

At that moment in time, the Gadorian knight Chloe was talking a walk with Elsa and admiring the early spring colors. The winter snow had stopped falling a few weeks earlier in mid-February, and leaves were beginning to grow on the trees once more. Tiny buds of green were sprouting from a small maple they passed under, soon to grow into large star-shaped leaves. The blue sky was clear for now, but a large group of rainclouds were steadily making their way towards the Legacy.

Since Elsa's disease had been cured, she was growing healthier and stronger every day, enough that she was beginning to follow in her father's footsteps to become a herbalist and doctor. Chloe on the other hand decided to remain on the Legacy, despite her concerns about rumors that her homeland Gadoria was becoming politically unstable. She joined Senel in protecting Werites Beacon and clearing the surrounding areas of local monsters. Aside from that, she helped protect Alcott and Elsa whenever they ventured into the field to collect medicinal herbs and medicines.

The two ladies were walking down the path near the inn when they heard faint thudding sounds behind them. Chloe's head perked up in curiosity. "Huh, what's that noise?" Elsa asked, looking behind them where the sound was gradually getting closer.

Chloe followed her lead, and her eyes suddenly widened as two men sprinted around a corner, skidding on the cobblestone path and dashing straight towards them. She quickly pulled Elsa out of the way as the two blurred figures sprinted past them. The knight only saw flashes of a shirtless redhead and a blond dressed in blue and white before the two skidded around the corner of the bakery and out of sight. "…What the…?" She trailed off.

"…Was that Walter and Moses?" Elsa asked, blinking rapidly in her confusion.

"I think so…" Chloe nodded, still staring off in the direction they left. "But why the hurry?" She tapped a finger against her chin in thought, and then it clicked. The knight looked up towards the large clock near the middle of town and it confirmed her thoughts. "That's right, Norma's ship was arriving this afternoon."

"She's coming back? It'll be so nice to see her again; it's been too quiet with her gone!" The younger girl remarked with a wide smile spreading across her face.

"Yeah… It is. That would explain why they were sprinting so fast, they were late." _Walter must have dozed off at Lumen Spring, and Moses went to go look for him_. She thought to herself with a smile.

After the fight with Schwartz, Norma fell into a bout of depression after Grune had faded away, regardless of how the goddess asked them to be happy and keep smiling for her. The two had made up the 'laughing brigade' in their group, and Norma felt like she had lost an older sister. They all did... Not even a month later, she had received a letter from Zamaran asking her to return to the university. According to her letter, the scholars there unearthed a strange object in one of their excavations in the mountains of Coranth, and asked for her help examining it. Without much hesitation or notice, Norma left for the mainland. The group all felt one member short of the Fun Bunch with her absence. Sure, Moses tried to replace her as comedy relief, but Werites Beacon felt a little quieter without her.

None seemed to feel it like the Ferines did, though, Chloe thought to herself. After the events in the Crystal Forest, the two seemed to be inseparable; the best of friends. She would annoy him to no end, and he'd tease her insistently. After she left, he seemed to… vanish at times, as if he didn't want to return to the room they shared at the inn (which he managed to get a discount on, as they were staying there for a long period of time. The innkeeper allowed it, seeing as how Walter forced her to pay off her impressive debt she owed him.)

Still, Chloe found it odd that he would have forgotten about today, of all days. …She wondered why that was.

"Hey, Chloe?" The knight snapped out of her thoughts and looked over at Elsa again. "Could we stop by when Norma returns to Werites Beacon?"

"Sure thing, Elsa." Chloe replied with a smile on her face. "Though, we were going to go get those healing items from the item shop, right?"

"Ah, that's right. Well, we'll see her tomorrow... Let's go then~!" Elsa smiled, and the two continued down the path towards the shop.

x x x

Back near the entrance of town, Walter and Moses had sprinted nonstop to the duct, reaching it in record time. Now they lingered near to it, gasping for breath. Walter bent over with his hands on his knees, struggling to breathe normally again. Moses had sprawled out on the ground with either arm out to the side as he stared at the sky, chest heaving for air.

"Let's… not do that… again." Walter gasped out, swallowing hard and panting for air.

"Yeah…! Let's…" Moses agreed with a wheezy laugh, wiping his forehead with his arm.

After a few minutes of catching their breath, they finally went into the duct and activated the small terminal to warp them to Port on Rage, the only port on the Legacy. A small, slightly gut-wrenching trip of teleportation later, they found themselves walking under the archway above the port's entrance. The two passed a few sailors carrying heavy crates to one of the larger warehouses on the banks. Huge crates and barrels of all kinds were stacked into tall towers outside the doors, waiting to be inventoried and shipped to who-knows-where.

Walking down the long docks, they spotted a familiar figure waiting for Norma as well. A short teenager at the age of seventeen leaned against the wall of a small building, arms crossed and staring out at the horizon. His face wasn't any less pale than the last time Walter and Moses had seen him, and over the past six months it seemed even more difficult for a stranger to tell he was a boy.

Moses grinned and waved at the shinobi. "Hey Jay, good to see ya!"

A bell jingled at the end of his ponytail as Jay turned his head towards them. Large violet eyes relaxed as he saw the familiar figures approach, and he pushed himself away from the wall to greet them. "Moses, Walter. And here I thought I would be the only one here when Norma arrived."

Moses pouted, "Hey, don't blame me! Wally here was takin' a nap up at Lumen Spring, and I was busy tryin' to find him."

Walter crossed his arms and looked out towards the bay, ignoring the teen's curious gaze. "I was working all night and it slipped my mind."

Jay leaned on one foot and raised an eyebrow at him, "Did you now…? You've been doing that for the past month or so; have you ever heard of a vacation?"

The blond gave the younger member of their party a flat expression bordering on annoyance. "Does that mean you'll stop working as well? After staying up night after night trying to find out if the rumors circulating around Gadoria are true?"

"Touche." Jay responded simply and turned back toward the docks, where a large passenger ship was just beginning to pull into port. "Well at any rate, you aren't _that_ late. Norma's ship is arriving right on time."

The three members of the Fun Bunch waited as the ship pulled next to the long wooden dock. A few salt-encrusted ropes were thrown down to sailors waiting on the dock, who tied them to large somewhat-rusty cleats bolted to the wooden platform. The ropes became taut and the ship settled to a stop close to the dock. Soon after a few sailors aboard deemed it safe, a wooden ramp was lowered down, allowing impatient passengers to finally disembark.

Walter's eyes scanned the crowd of people walking down the gangplank, searching for a familiar girl with a yellow ornament in her hair. After a small crowd of people passed them by, a few people stepped aside and a familiar figure came into view. The treasure hunter was walking towards them toting a heavy suitcase in both hands. Her light-brown eyes sparkled in the sunshine as she chatted with a blonde woman around her age. She didn't seem to have changed at all, from her yellow dress to the bobbed hair accessory she wore in her messy hair.

The Ferines couldn't help but smile seeing the crystal eren, not knowing how much he had missed her until he saw her after six long months.

Norma smiled at the girl next to her before she looked forward towards the warehouses and road out of the port. She nearly stopped in place when she saw her three friends standing at the end of the dock. Moses waved ecstatically, Jay had that small smirk upon his face, and Walter simply smiled. The brunette felt loneliness crumble away from her heart as she saw her roommate and two friends. She shoved her suitcase into the arms of the confused blonde next to her and bolted for the others at a run. "Wally! Red, Jay-Jay!" She yelled in glee.

Before Walter could react, the girl had opened her arms and launched herself at him for a hug. She tackled him, which caused him to tip backwards and slam into the wooden deck with a loud thud. "Oh, I missed you guys so much!" She chirped happily, an enormous grin on her face.

Jay chuckled as Walter groaned on the ground, rubbing the back of his head. "And yet you tackled Walter first…"

The back of the Ferines' head began to throb painfully, and he lifted his head to glare at Norma. She still was lying on top of him, her eyes sparkling mischievously. "Do you always have to do that when you see me?" He retorted, wondering if he hit the ground hard enough to earn a concussion.

Norma just laughed and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a hug, "What can I say? It isn't as much fun without you teasing me all the time, and I missed you!"

This caused Walter's frown to slip from his face and he gently wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. He couldn't help but notice that her hair had the sweet scent of strawberry shampoo drifting from it, and wondered if he had ever noticed that before. "…I missed you too, Norma." He murmured quietly in her ear. "Now, could you please get off of me?"

Norma grinned sheepishly, and helped pull him to his feet. Afterwards, the treasure hunter turned to Moses and Jay for hugs as well. Moses swung her around like she was a little kid while Jay simply tolerated it, still not appreciating hugs that much. After teasing Jay a little about his want of personal space, she seemed to remember the blonde woman behind her.

Turning to look behind her, she saw the blond struggling to hold up both of their bags. The woman seemed to shrink under the impatient expressions and muttering of the other passengers she was blocking, and gave Norma a helpless look. The treasure hunter quickly ran forward to retrieve her bag and nodded towards her friends, pulling the group aside so they wouldn't block foot traffic. "Hey guys, this is Emilia! She's a girl I met in Rexalia; say hi!"

The girl gave them a polite smile and bowed slightly, her long wavy hair falling off her shoulders to hang in front of her brilliant aqua-blue eyes. She wore a simple cream-colored dress with a violet band across the waist and the bottom trim, paired with a pair of battered white slippers. Around her left shoulder was a khaki-tan shoulder bag, which looked a little worse for wear. The strangest item she wore was a golden-orange ornament hanging from around her neck, one that seemed very familiar to the other Ferines. "I'm pleased to meet all of you."

Walter stared at the ornament for a long moment, causing the girl to nervously shift from one foot to the other at his intense look. He slowly raised his blue-eyed gaze to look at her. "…You're a Ferines, aren't you?" He asked slowly, not so much out of suspicion as curiosity.

Emilia seemed to jolt out of her relaxed persona, her eyes growing wide with fear. "H-how did you…!?" She stammered, her face growing pale.

Walter realized she must have come to the Legacy for safety and quickly backpedaled, "Wait, calm down." He held out a hand, letting a small violet teriques with jagged wings flutter above his fingertips. "I'm a Ferines too, you're safe here…"

The moment his teriques had appeared, Emilia looked as if a large weight had fallen away from her shoulders, and she slouched in relief. "Oh… good." She mumbled quietly, color beginning to come back into her face.

After Walter let his teriques vanish, Norma motioned to him and the others with a soothing smile on her face. "Remember when I mentioned some of my friends were Ferines? Wally's one of them." She turned to her friends and grinned sheepishly, "Sorry, I should have mentioned how skittish she could be."

Jay shook his head, "It's not a problem, but we should talk elsewhere. It's crowded here, and who knows who could be listening." This made Emilia tense up again and nervously glance around her surroundings.

Moses snorted, earning a dirty look from his teammate. "Ah, quit being such a downer Jay. You're too paranoid for your own good, ya know that?"

"I prefer the word 'cautious'." The shorter teen retorted back.

"Excuuuses~!" Moses sang, and Jay's eye twitched in irritation.

Norma waved her hands at the group, "Hey come on, you guys. Let's go home already! The food on the ship can't compare to the bread bowls they sell at the inn, and I'm starving!" Jay and Moses stopped their bickering and looked towards her. Giving the other one last look, they nodded at Norma.

After watching Walter throw Norma's bag over his shoulder, the bandit chief offered to carry Emilia's much smaller bag for her. The smile she gave him was enough to make him wobble in place, and Moses practically _strutted_ next to her with a huge grin on his face. Jay simply rolled his eyes and continued after the four. "Looks like he found a new crush…"

Meanwhile, Walter noticed the eren's bag seemed incredibly heavy for some reason, and had to catch himself from tipping over once or twice. "Norma, did you take the entire university when you left? This thing weighs a ton." He was also afraid the bag's strap would snap and what he assumed was a pile of bricks would fall onto his foot.

The eren shook her head, and a mischievous smile lit her face. "Oh, I brought some supplies back for studying. It's a surprise!"

He shook his head; make that a library of books dropping onto his foot. The Ferines readjusted the strap on his shoulder as he replied, "Somehow this makes me even more nervous about what schemes you might be coming up with…"

Norma shrugged, "Hey, I found the Everlight, so I need to go chase after something else. I wouldn't be a very good treasure hunter if I just stopped at one priceless treasure, would I?"

"At the same time Bubbles, ya nearly kicked the bucket when ya did find the Everlight…" Moses mentioned.

This caused Emilia, the only one who hadn't known about the events in the Crystal Forest, turn to the brunette in shock and horror. "Wait, you almost died!? How?" She exclaimed.

Norma rubbed the back of her head embarrassed, "It's a looong story, but… yeah. I almost died from being poisoned amongst other things. I would been six feet under right now if Wally hadn't come to save me."

Emilia turned to the other Ferines in front of her with admiration in her eyes, "Wow… You'll have to tell me what happened! How'd you save her? How did she get poisoned in the first place?"

Walter grimaced at the memory of his battle with Schwartz and its painful ending. "Ergh… like Norma said, it's a long story. Parts of it are a bit… painful to remember, and it's a story you might not entirely believe…"

Emilia frowned, but understood. "I understand… Though I would still like to hear it sometime, it sounds like quite the story."

Norma nodded eagerly, pointing over to the duct outside of the port's entrance. "Well later I'll tell you all about it. But for now, let's go home!"

x x x

 _How's that for a first chapter? Technically this is more like the first third of chapter 1, but I couldn't find any other way to properly split it._

 _Hoping to hear from you readers how you liked it! …I mean, if there's anyone left in the fandom… :sniff: God, I feel old now, I've been writing Legendia fics for nine years.  
_


	2. Little Talks and Little Relics

_Hey, my stories are still being read! Woo hoo! I was half expecting I wouldn't get a reader unless I made some weird crossover with Gravity Falls and a demonic Illuminati Dorito, but I guess that isn't the case! Either way, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, which technically was originally part of chapter 1, hence the length!_

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Chapter 2: Little Talks and Little Relics

* * *

After teaching Emilia how to use the duct, the four members of the Fun Bunch Plus One Extra warped one by one to the entrance of Werites Beacon. As they walked through the front gates, the sun began to dip lower in the sky and the clouds on the horizon transformed from white to shades of pink and orange.

A cacophony of noise came from the inn's front lawn, where a large number of merry bandits were relaxing. Most were settled in front of the entrance of the lounge-slash-restaurant, all holding frothing mugs of ale in their hands. Csaba, Moses' second-in-command, sat near a large oak tree when he noticed his leader walking up the road with friends in tow. He jumped to his feet and told the bandit next to him to watch his drink, running over to the group with a grin. "Hey Moses!"

The bandit chief grinned back at Csaba before he briefly looked at the large group of bandits cheering and drinking themselves into a stupor. "Hey yourself! The boys are more riled up than usual, what's up with 'em?"

The blue-haired man pointed over towards the Misty Mountains, towering peaks almost glittering in the late-afternoon sunshine. "We found a pair of dragons fighting over in the range past the Misty Mountains. It took a bit of effort, but the boys managed to take one of them down. Turns out it was part of the swarm of dragons that attacked the city a while back."

Moses raised his eyebrows and whistled through his teeth. "That's a nice prize! No wonder they're celebratin'."

Csaba nodded and dug around in his pocket for a folded slip of paper. "I've already went and talked about prices for the bones and scales with the armory shop; they said they'll pick them up and pay us in around a week."

The bandit chief took the paper and scanned it quickly. After he'd finished he handed it back to Csaba with a wide grin. "Sounds good to me! Say congrats to 'em for me!"

"Sure, no problem!" Csaba said before glancing at the rest of the Fun Bunch where he finally noticed Norma. His eyebrows shot up and he smiled cheerfully. "Hey, Bubbles! You're finally back! How was your trip to the mainland?"

Norma shrugged with a wide smile. "It was alright, I guess… It was nice to be back at the University after so long, but I really missed here too. All in all, there was too much studying and not enough treasure."

Jay quirked an eyebrow at her, "But I thought you told us—"

"Shh! Not now JJ, I'll tell you all 'bout it later!" Norma whispered evasively and gave him a sharp look. The information dealer quickly caught her meaning and nodded slightly, remaining patient until later on.

Moses waved goodbye to his fellow comrades, most who had begun joking about someone's love life. From the blush rapidly spreading across Csaba's face, Norma guessed that he was the subject of conversation. The bandit turned and held open the door towards the downstairs of the inn. "Come on, y'all! Let's go eat!"

The restaurant hadn't changed one bit over Norma's six-month absence. Warm lighting flooded from the large lamps on the ceiling and cast golden light across a variety of dining tables. Off to the side of the room, a baby grand piano gleamed in the center of a small stage. Waiters walked between the different customers at the tables, and in the corner the resident pianist Go Shiina chatted with the bartender.

Norma pumped her arms in the air and cheered, "Woo, I missed this place! Let's grab a seat, you guys!" The five grabbed one of the tables away from the stage near the far wall. Jay grabbed an extra chair for Emilia as Moses set the girls' bags next to the wall behind them, and they settled into their chairs. Norma sat between Walter and Moses, while Jay sat next to the bandit chief and Emilia scooted between him and the other Ferines. One of the waiters noticed them sit down, and motioned he'd be over in a few moments after dealing with the unruly couple he was serving.

Jay propped his elbows on the table and laced his pale fingers together, looking over at the girls with a relaxed expression. Anyone who personally knew the ninja would notice the corners of his lips twitching into a small smile. It was similar to the contemplating expression Walter often wore when he had first arrived in Werites Beacon.

The shinobi was plotting. "So Norma, it's good to see you again and it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Emilia. Before I ask about your trip though, Norma, I'm rather curious about your new friend."

Emilia looked over at Norma with obvious hesitation, who just shrugged and waved her hand lazily. "Don't worry about him, Emilia! JJ's a nosy ninja who sells information to people and practically has an obsession with knowing everything about everyone or anything. Unless you can dodge all of his hounding like Wally has, just go with it. He won't share it with anyone if you don't want him to."

The Ferines girl slowly nodded after peering at Jay for a moment, who was giving Norma a dirty look for her comment about his 'obsession'. She took a calming breath and spoke. "Well… My name is Emilia, although my true name is…" She hesitated, looking over at Walter with pleading eyes.

The blond shrugged slightly. "They won't look at you strangely for it. Most Orerines I've met just consider them surnames, and Norma is the only one here besides us who know their significance." She still looked nervous. "If you're curious, they already know mine. It's Delques."

Emilia found herself relax from the blond's words, although she wondered why his Ferines name was so dark. She suspected that it might have to do with his teriques. Either way, it allowed her to open up a bit more.

"Well… my village elder gave me the name of 'Welares', which means 'Many Writings'. I guess he knew I would be a bit of a bookworm when I grew up." The others nodded, and she continued. "I was born seventeen years ago in one of the northern countries on the mainland, and unfortunately my country was… a battleground for a few bandit tribes. I lost my village shortly after I was born, and my family and I roamed around for a while before settling near a mountain range near Gadoria."

Walter glanced at Norma with a question in his eyes, whose nod confirmed his suspicions. "It was the Needlepoint range, wasn't it? The north part that bordered Crusand?"

Emilia sadly nodded, tucking a strand of wavy hair behind her ear. "Yes. As you can guess, Crusand and Gadoria went to war a few years ago, and my new village was destroyed shortly after that. …I ended up losing my parents, but I managed to escape with my little sister Millie with me. We tried our best to cope, since we still had each other."

"You have a little sister?" Moses questioned with a curious expression on his face. Norma kicked his shin under the table, causing him to yelp in surprise and pain. Norma gave the redhead a rare serious look which made him shut his mouth. Emilia wasn't done talking.

"Yes… Millie's five years my junior, and her name was Seluren meaning 'healer'. She was always optimistic about life, and even after our parents died she always wore a smile on her face." Emilia smiled slightly though her eyes hid a deep sadness. The fact she had also referred to her sister in the past tense gave Jay a good idea how her story would end.

A waiter came over before Emilia could continue, and everyone quickly ordered their meals so she could continue. "We had heard rumors from other Ferines and Orerines alike of the Legacy; an ancient ship the size of an island and the last sanctuary of the Ferines. We tried to find a ship to take us there, but we hadn't found any. There were no ships sailing for the Legacy save for a few… and they were leaving from Crusand and the Holy Kingdom of Rexalia. Rexalia was almost a hundred miles away, but we tried our luck anyway; we wouldn't dare go near Crusand."

"And? What happened?" Moses asked as he unconsciously leaned closer to the blond across the table, eager to hear more of her tale.

"Well…" She hesitated in continuing for a moment. "We were walking through a less-traveled forest path avoiding the main roads, which were frequently patrolled by soldiers of both Gadoria and Crusand. …We were ambushed. A large group of bandits who were capturing Ferines for Crusand found us. The Crusand Empire were still searching for the Merines and we looked the part."

Emilia crossed her fingers on the tabletop, and averted her eyes to them. "We managed to escape, but we didn't escape injury. Millie was badly cut on her leg from their swords, and the wound became infected…" She swallowed hard, and her voice quieted. "She… she got a bad fever, and I couldn't find any way to make it go down. We didn't have any medicine with us and it would be days before we got to Rexalia."

Her shoulders slumped, and her eyes became watery. "She got to the point where she rarely stayed awake, and when she did she was delirious. She hallucinated, asking about our parents and our village; she would ask, 'where's Mommy? Where's Daddy?'" Emilia swallowed hard, and blinked away the tears in her eyes. "And… …One morning, she… never woke up."

The group was silent for a few moments, some not knowing exactly what to say and others reluctant to share their own losses. Norma hadn't heard her entire story in detail until now, and she stared down at the table with sad eyes. Emilia seemed to snap out of her memories and shook her head apologetically when she saw the looks on their faces. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you all sad." She said, rubbing her eyes.

Jay just waved her apologies away, his eyes somber. "No, I should apologize to you, Emilia… I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." He looked over at the others, and Norma's eyes were lost in happier memories of her friend… their friend and comrade, Grune. "I can understand how difficult it is for you. We all lost someone as well… One of our good friends died half a year ago, and it's… hard to move on when everything around us reminds us of her."

Moses nodded slightly, his lips drawn in a tight frown. His arms were crossed and he purposely faced away from them so that his good eye was hidden from view. While Grune's loss had affected Norma the most, Moses was having a hard time coping as well, since he had developed quite the crush on the beautiful woman. Walter kept silent, a pensive expression on his face as faint memories of his past floated to the front of his mind. Emilia's story had hit far too close to home for him, and his heart hurt knowing how many others had stories just like hers.

Norma rubbed her watery eyes and attempted to smile at her friend. "Well, Millie would be happy you got here safe and sound like you two wanted, right?"

Emilia caught her meaning and nodded with a sad smile. Walter gazed at her and part of him wondered if Fenimore had met Emilia's sister on the other side, past that beach between this world and the next.

He suddenly had a thought pop into his mind. "Emilia, you came here to start anew, right?" She nodded and he continued. "There's a Ferines Village here on the Legacy, and I've needed to meet with the Elder Maurits soon anyway. If you want, I could speak him and another acquaintance of mine; try to find you a place to live there."

At first, Emilia looked stunned and her eyes widened in shock. Moments went by before her lips twitched upwards as a true, bright smile lit up her entire face. Her blue eyes seemed to shimmer with hope. "Really..? You'd do that?" He nodded, and she brought her clutched fingers to her lips, and seemed to tremble from happiness. Tears of joy shined in her eyes. "T-thank you… Thank you so much! You're all the kindest people I've ever met!"

Moses' cheeks were tinged pink from her enormous smile, and he had to shake the stars out of his eyes before grinning at the Ferines. "Aw, no problem, Emilia! We're always there to give a helpin' hand!" She beamed back at him, her eyes sparkling. The bandit's head hit the tabletop with a thud, his face the same color as his hair.

The blond's brows shot up in alarm. "Oh, are you ok…?" She trailed off when she realized she didn't know the redhead's name. "Um… I'm terribly sorry, I never caught any of your names!" She smiled sheepishly.

Jay shook his head. "It's no problem, we never properly introduced ourselves. My name is Jay, and like Norma said I am an information dealer. If there is anything you need to know, you'll know where to look…" He trailed off, a small knowing smile on his face.

Walter rolled his eyes, "Spare her your usual song and dance, Jay. She isn't interested in blackmail." This caused the shorter teen to shoot a pointed glare at him, which he easily shrugged off. "As for me, I'm known to everyone as Walter. I'm usually clearing the local areas of monsters or helping in the Village of the Ferines. It's a pleasure to meet you, Emilia."

A long moment passed when she turned to Moses in curiosity. Norma innocently sipped at a glass of water while she kicked him in the shin, causing him to sit up with a yelp of pain. He finally noticed the blond looking at him, and he cleared his throat sheepishly before grinning, "Well, mah name's Moses Sandor, bandit chief, Sacred Eres user and beast master extraordinaire! Pleased to meet…"

The redhead's voice trailed off when Emilia shifted in place, glancing at him as if she expected he would hit her. Jay groaned in exasperation and slapped a palm against his face. He was about to comment on his severe lack of tact when Moses quickly waved his hands in slight panic. "Hey hey, wait a minute! Hold up now! I'm not like those other guys! I'm a beast tamer, not a marauder; I don't hurt or kidnap people!"

The other three members of the Fun Bunch gave the redhead a look, remembering how he kidnapped Shirley a year ago. "Me and my boys hunt the monsters 'round the Legacy an' keep things safe for everyone. I ain't a bad guy…" He trailed off, looking over at Jay with a pleading look in his good eye.

Jay sighed gestured towards him. "Moses is correct. He's generally a good person and nice, even if he is stupid-"

"Watch it, squirt." The redhead warned, shooting a pointed look at the ninja.

"Like I said, he's far from harmful." Emilia seemed to be listening and Jay looked up at the ceiling in thought. "Think of him as… an overly affectionate puppy who hasn't yet been potty-trained—"

"Alright, that does it! Get back here, Jay!" Jay quickly sidestepped out of his chair as Moses practically leapt over the table at him. Jay quickly ran downstairs towards the battle arena while the redhead bolted after him, yelling insults all the way down. Other people turned to look at the commotion, curious about the audible shouting and yelling from downstairs. This caused Norma to roll her eyes, Emilia to sink down into her chair in embarrassment and Walter to rub his nose muttering about headaches.

The blond woman continued to stare in the direction where the two members of their party with wide eyes. Part of her swore that she had seen her life flash before her eyes. "Are they… always like that?" She asked hesitantly, as the other two groaned.

"Most of the time they're in the same room together, yes…" Walter replied, hand caressing his forehead as he heard faint crashing noises and high voices coming from down below. The staring had begun to die down, though now gossip also filled parts of the room.

Norma shook her head and grinned at Emilia. "Don't let their arguing fool you though. They're practically siblings at this point, with how much they get on each other's nerves."

Emilia smiled at that, and stood up. "I think I'll go try to cool their heads a bit. Please excuse me." The two nodded in her direction as she straightened her dress and walked towards the stairs like nothing had ever happened.

Soon after, a waiter appeared at their table, looking over at the two in confusion as he held five heavy plates. Norma quickly explained their other friends had run off and promised to refund them if need be. Eating there almost every night while she lived there helped her case a bit, so the waiter just passed it off and wished them a good evening.

As Norma started digging into her food almost immediately, the two roommates conversed about random things; conversation starters, really. What the mainland was like, various weather patterns, gossip around the love triangle that was Chloe/Senel/Shirley…

Walter bit his lip fighting back a snicker at one of Norma's escapades at the University when the bags against the wall caught his eye. He forced away his humor remembering a question he wanted answers to, and turned to Norma again, "Speaking of the University…"

The treasure hunter was finishing off her seafood bread bowl at that time, and turned to him with a mouth full of food. She muffled out a reply he could only guess was, "Yeah, what's up."

"Erm…" The Ferines trailed off, recoiling a bit from her bad table manners. Norma noticed him leaning away from her, and swallowed down her large bite and gulped down some water. "Yeah?" She asked. The blond leveled a serious expression at her with his blue eyes looking a little sharper than usual. …Then again, her roommate was always serious.

He glanced at the bags for a brief moment, and she shifted in place. "…What? Something bothering you?" She asked, somewhat hesitant in knowing the answer. She had one guess what was eating at him.

Walter was silent for a moment, frowning at her response. "You wonder if something's bothering me." He let out a frustrated breath. "Norma, you left a little over five months ago out of the blue, without much warning or explanation. Then there's no word from you save for one or two letters, and that was just to tell us you were busy with Nerifes-knows-what and were coming back today. Then all of a sudden, you come back and everything is supposed to be all smiles and rainbows again?"

Norma didn't bother to hide her wince. She had known for a while this lecture was going to come up, be it from Walter or Will or anyone else. Because she had been so focused on her research in the University, she barely noticed how much time went by. After five months at the University, she had written maybe two or three letters to her friends. The few times she did, they were replies to their own letters, full of excuses that she was busy with some secretive project at the university, she would tell them later and that she would be back in a few months.

Walter used to disappear a lot, especially before the whole situation with Schwartz, her poisoned injury at the Ice Monument and the events at the Crystal Forest. Even then, at least he would leave her a note on where he'd gone or when he would be back. In turn, the Ferines disliked being left out of the loop. He was like that anyway though, so Norma had expected this with a feeling of dread since arriving at the Legacy.

Walter's brows knit together and a soft growl left his throat. "Norma, we're your _friends_ , right? Could it have _killed_ you to at least write back once in a while? At least so the rest of us aren't worrying about an avalanche of books falling on you or something ridiculous like that?"

Norma looked at his exasperated expression and realized he was actually upset she hadn't kept in contact. Well, more than usual, anyway. Usually whenever he was scolding or lecturing her, he'd keep his expression calm and let his icy glares do the talking. But at the moment, there wasn't any of the trained restraint or intimidation she had known him for, and it showed. Norma wondered if he was annoyed because she hadn't so much stayed out of contact with the Fun Bunch as she hadn't contacted _him_.

A thought ran through her mind. When Grune passed, Norma had been depressed and heartbroken to the point she took the first opportunity to leave the Legacy for a few months to heal. It hadn't occurred to her that her leaving might have upset the blond so much. Ever since she found the Everlight and Walter resolved to remain in Werites Beacon, he seemed to grow a lot more mellow around her and, dare she even think it less strange out-of-character imaged pop into her mind, cheerful. He actually seemed happy for once! Even while he still had moments where he seemed lost in thought or woke up in the middle of the night from some bad dream or memory, he seemed a lot more relaxed then he used to be.

Norma realized that when she had left for the University, she'd taken away the person he leaned on the most for pretty much anything. Without bothering to send letters or even write back, she made it worse.

Norma looked at him with guilt in her eyes, swallowing hard. While lost in thought, the blond's gaze strayed towards the stage where Go Shiina was playing a light jazzy tune. "…Wally, I'm sorry I didn't write or stay in contact. I was super busy with research at the University, and I lost track of time. Zamaran called me back for something super important and I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about what I was working on. I _couldn't_ tell anyone about it."

The blond turned back towards her, his gaze frosty, "I'd understand if it was something you couldn't talk about, but not keeping contact about anything else? Not bothering to write about when you were coming back to the Legacy, or the fact you were gone for half a year? Do you remember our conversation after what happened in the Crystal Forest? The promise I made to you?" She flinched under his gaze and nodded slightly. "It's rather hard to keep that promise if I'm not there to protect you, isn't it?"

Norma looked up at him through her eyelashes, her head bowed and shoulders hunched up in discomfort. "I'm sorry, Wally, but…" She bit her lip. "Werites Beacon reminded me too much of G-Girl… After everything that happened with G-Girl and Schwartz, I wanted to just… go for a little while. I couldn't stay here without seeing her in some corner of town, in the bakery, Teach's house. Everywhere I went, I remembered her being there, and I kept thinking about what happened and the fact _G-Girl isn't here anymore_." Her voice hitched, and she had to swallow around the lump in her throat. No, she promised herself she wouldn't cry again…

Walter's gaze softened, no doubt remembering the week after Grune died and how nothing seemed to make her happy. Even with that, he was still irritated, and it showed in his voice. "Norma, you don't think I already knew that? Her passing was the hardest on you, but we were all grieving for her and I barely knew the woman. Was it really so bad you just had to… leave the Legacy with nothing but a note left behind? Like the rest of your friends couldn't have supported you too?"

Every time the blond spoke of the party, it seemed more like he was speaking for himself. He opened his mouth ready to continue on, but hesitated. Instead, he sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, his blond fringe out of his face for once. Frustration and bits of other emotions flickered across his face before finally settling on a weary acceptance. "Just… Please, keep us in the loop if this happens again, all right?"

Norma looked at her weary-looking roommate, and nodded slightly. It was then she noticed the small dark smudges underneath his blue eyes, and she bent lower to get a better look at them. "…You have bags under your eyes, you know."

"I haven't been getting that much sleep." Walter replied simply, sitting up as the same waiter came and took their empty plates.

"Why not? Is Maurie making you patrol the entire Legacy every night or something?" She asked, propping her chin up with her hand and looking at him with a small grin on her face. It was almost an ongoing joke between the two how much he poured himself into his work, especially on his first life.

"Oh, ha ha." The blond replied as he rolled his eyes, giving her a deadpan stare. Norma silently cheered the return of her disgruntled roommate as she waited for him to continue.

He leaned back in his chair slightly, tipping his water glass onto its corner and spinning it slightly with a finger. "To answer your question, no. But I'll admit I've been running myself ragged trying to find any truth in those worrisome rumors about Gadoria with Jay and making sure the Ferines who do arrive here get to the village safely." He let out a small sigh, staring down at the glass. "After that, I'm often helping clear the local area of monsters with Senel, Chloe and Moses. Next is acting as a courier between the village and here, often between Maurits and either Shirley or Madam Musette. Then I struggle keeping Thyra and those three kids who idolize me out of my hair whenever I'm in the middle of those tasks. After all that I might have some time to study, usually until late in the night when any other sane person is asleep. I've been too busy to sleep well—"

"Wait, studying? Studying what?" Norma asked, entirely confused now. She thought he was done with the whole research thing after he saved her life.

The water glass landed on its bottom again with a clacking sound as the blond lost his concentration. Walter opened his mouth to answer, but froze as if he realized it was a secret he didn't want others knowing about. He quickly shook his head and fiddled with the glass again. "…Nothing, I think you misheard me."

Norma raised an eyebrow, "Really? I heard you say you were studying something. What is it?"

"It's nothing, Norma." Walter replied tersely, keeping his gaze on the glass less it fall over.

"Doesn't sound like nothing to me. Come on Wally, I won't tell anyone!" The treasure hunter said in a chipper tone, grinning at him.

"I already told you, I'm not studying anything!" The Ferines responded with a glare at her, obviously not wanting to talk about it.

She frowned, recognized a nigh unwinnable battle when she saw it. It was time to break out her trump card. She crossed her arms and gave him her best skeptical expression. "Really…? And here I thought you didn't lie, because that sure looked like one to me."

The comment earned her an icy glare, but Walter knew when she had beaten him in their word battle. After a long moment of glaring at her, he let the glass clack back onto the table and turned his gaze away from her. If she didn't know better, his cheeks grew a little pink as he murmured something under his breath.

Norma strained to hear his words, but didn't catch them. "Could you say that again, Wally? I didn't hear what you said." Norma asked politely, knowing antagonizing the Ferines would earn her no answers.

"…Cooking." He replied a bit louder, but even then she barely heard it over the chatter and music in the background.

"Cooking?" That certainly caught the treasure hunter by surprise, "You're trying to be a chef or something?" She hoped not. His sense of taste wasn't exactly the best and it said something when _she_ had more experience than him in cooking.

Walter raised an eyebrow at the brunette, probably thinking the same thing. "…No, I'm not." He shook his head and folded his arms on the table. "I'm…" He hesitated for a long time before gesturing towards her. "Your teacher, Sven… You've finally accepted his passing, right?"

"Well… yeah. Sure I still miss the goofball like heck, but finding the Everlight helped me past that." Norma answered slowly, a brief smile lighting her face as she thought back to their misadventures years ago. Her smile faded when she noticed the blond in front of her stopped talking, staring at the empty glass and lost in thought. "Why do you ask, Wally?" She asked, her head cocked to the side in both curiosity and concern.

"I… haven't yet, on more than one count. Call it my way of dealing with it." He quietly answered after a long time, fingers tightening on his forearm and creating little indents in his sleeves.

Norma's brows furrowed together in confusion, knowing she was missing something but not sure what. "I still don't get it… How do you get over something like that by learning how to cook?"

To anyone else in the room, the blond in front of Norma looked apathetic, though those who knew him would recognize the far-off look in his blue eyes. It was the same sort of tired expression she remembered him wearing during some nights. On the rare occasion she woke up in the middle of the night, she would see the blond sitting up in bed wide awake. Sometimes she asked why he was awake, but after a few nights of this she eventually figured out they were past memories catching up to him in his sleep, ones he refused to speak about.

Even after they had become close friends, the Ferines very rarely mentioned anything from his life prior to Senel and Shirley's arrival to the Legacy. The most she had ever heard him speak about were some things he did working under Maurits, and even then, he skipped a lot. Some parts she assumed had resulted in injury or some other gruesome scenario, and didn't blame him for leaving them out. Before that… practically nothing at all. It's like the younger version of him had never existed, from how little he mentioned or even alluded to.

Trying hard to think over something the blond might have mentioned before now, Norma struggled to remember anything even remotely related to cooking. Why cooking, of all things? It seemed like such a random thing. Suddenly, a memory hit her like a tram. Back before the Crystal Forest, before Madam Musette's house and even before the hurricane… She couldn't remember much, but she had made some joking remark, asked a random question. He mentioned his…

 _Oh…_ Norma's brows furrowed together in realization. She felt like an idiot. He had mentioned he liked spicy food because his mom made spicy curry all the time, but she couldn't cook to save her life. Now he was trying to learn how to cook as a way of coping with her loss. From what Madam Musette said, she had probably died when he was still a kid, and since he never spoke about his childhood, she could only assume the worst with how hateful he had been against humans. "Oh…" She quietly said at last, downtrodden she'd even brought up the subject.

The air between them was tense as she tried to figure out a way of apologizing for bringing up the subject, for making him think about most likely bad memories. She was finally broken out of her thoughts when Walter quietly exhaled a small sigh. "Don't worry about it."

She struggled to find a way to cut through the awkward atmosphere across the table when he quietly exhaled a sigh. "Don't worry about it."

Norma looked over at the blond with guilt and worry in her eyes. "Wally, I…" She trailed off clumsily, suddenly finding her glass of water the most interesting object in the room.

"I'm sorry… Am I interrupting something?" The two immediately straightened and looked over at Emilia, who was clutching a small cloth bag in her fingers. She gazed at the two downtrodden-looking roommates with concerned eyes, obviously missing some important discussion.

Walter shook away the depressing memories running laps through his mind and looked at Emilia with just the light weariness in his eyes. "Not anymore. Just remembering past times." Norma gave the blond a pensive look, but the quick glance he shot her clearly stated to drop the subject.

So she did. Norma nodded, and peered behind the blond to notice a severe lack of short ninjas and scraggly-haired bandits. "Hey Emilia, where's Red and JJ?" Norma asked.

Emilia gestured towards the door on the opposite side of the room. "They went home a little while ago while you two were talking. Jay mentioned you two had a lot of catching up to do, so I chatted with them outside for a bit. He also mentioned that he wanted to talk to you about something tomorrow, Walter. Something you two were looking into?"

Walter nodded, and Norma suddenly had a thought pop into her mind. "Oh yeah…! Hey Emilia, do you have enough gald for a room?"

"Well, yes… Though I don't really have that much though. It took most of my savings to buy a ticket to the Legacy in the first place, and I don't have much left. I supposed that I would figure out the rest when I got here." The blond woman looked from side to side, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Norma waved it off, "Well, you already know Wally's hooking you up with a pad over at the Village of the Ferines, but you can just grab a room up-top and put it on our tab! No worries!"

Walter sighed as he shouldered Norma's overly heavy duffel bag, all traces of their previous conversation gone. "I don't mean to come off as greedy, but if you start paying for everyone's room then the two of us are going to end up in debt with the innkeeper again."

Norma nearly keeled over at the thought, and then turned to him with a cheerful grin, "Oh, it's no problem! Sure, we might not be killing monsters and saving the world on a daily basis, but at least now you're actually paying for stuff instead of freeloading!" The blond glared indignantly at her, but she just shrugged it off with a wide yawn. "Ah, I'm pooped! Let's go to bed already!" She maneuvered around the various tables and marched up the stairs towards the inn's lobby.

Her roommate just sighed and massaged his forehead, "I should be used to her doing that by now…" he muttered under his breath before turning to Emilia, who had collected her own belongings. "Come on, let's go get you a room."

She quickly followed him up the steps as he followed Norma. While the treasure hunter could be heard tromping up the stairs after wishing her new Ferines friend a good night, Walter was busy speaking with the innkeeper about a spare room. The man smiled at the two after the man paid him some gald and motioned Emilia to follow him upstairs. She gave Walter a joyous smile, then trotted upstairs after the older gentleman. Walter slowly followed, waiting to bid Emilia a good night before turning to his own room.

As he opened the door and walked through the foyer like he always had, he briefly forgotten one rule the two set in place. Knock on the door before entering less someone was already inside getting dressed.

The blond immediately heard the brunette singing loudly from across the room, "Ah, somebody, somebody… Can anybody find me somebody to love?" From her loud singing the brunette didn't notice the blond enter, so she was still facing away from the door and pulling on her pajama top near the window. Walter's face rapidly turned bright red when he realized he'd seen the colorful bra she wore underneath. Bright yellow… Of _course_ it would be yellow.

Doing his best to throw _that_ mental image into a dark corner of his mind before it went any further, he pushed the door closed with his foot. The loud slam caused Norma to jump and stop singing. She quickly turned to face him with an embarrassed blush on her face, "H-hi Wally! I didn't see you there!" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "…You know, I was getting dressed here; you could have knocked!"

Walter gave her a deadpan look, even as he willed the flush in his cheeks to go away. "Sorry, I forgot. Though I would have assumed you'd change in a place I couldn't accidently walk in on you." He continued over to the bed, letting the straps of her duffel bag slip off his shoulder. Grabbing a hold of them, he held the bag to her with one arm.

She grinned at him in thanks and grabbed the straps to retrieve her bag from him, "Thanks Wall—" He let go of them and the bag instantly went to the floor in a loud thud. "Aah! …How can you even carry this thing with one arm?! It's so heavy!" Norma wailed in surprise.

Walter smiled slightly at the eren's compliment, and he tried not to chuckle as she struggled to pull the bag off the floor. He walked over to the dresser and tossed his bag of gels onto then knelt to take off his boots. "It comes from all the work that you tease me about… Will can probably lift those with ease though, considering that hammer he carries around."

Norma huffed, and dragged the bag over to the foot of her bed. "Well… Phooie, I forgot how heavy this thing was!" She struggled to pull the bag up onto her bed, the straps straining under the weight. A stitch on the bottom of the heavy canvas finally gave way and ripped open, sending the duffel's contents falling to the floor. An assortment of clothes, books, brass research tools and other miscellaneous items fell with a large clatter. "Aw,dang it!" She cursed angrily, bending over to pick up the fallen books, clothing and other items off the floor.

As Norma tossed books in a stack on the window seat, a small object bounced out of a jacket's pocker and rolled away from the pile. It stopped when it bumped into Walter's feet and the blond bent down to pick up the small item. "What's this…?" He asked, curiosity coloring his voice. A small spherical ball wrapped in coarse strips of cloth sat in his hand. He began to un-wrap the cloth to look at the object hidden underneath the fabric, but a shriek of dismay from his roommate stopped him.

"Wait wait wait! Don't open it!" Walter looked over at Norma, who held out her hands in panic. The blond blinked in confusion as she began to run around the room, locking doors and pulling curtains shut. She quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the desk. "Norma, why are you…?" Walter began to ask, but Norma interrupted him again.

"Hold on a sec!" The crystal eren rushed over to the pile of clothes on the floor, digging through them until she found a small velvet pouch with golden drawstrings. She ran back over and flipped on the small lamp on the desk, bathing the two in golden light. Norma's light-brown eyes reflected gold in the light as they sparkled with excitement. "Ok, _now_ you can open it." She whispered eagerly.

Walter stared at her as if she asked him to disarm a bomb, but figured if it were some sort of prank she wouldn't be standing so close. He looked back to the ball in his hand and slowly peeled away the cloth. The strips fell away in his hands, revealing a strange clay-red sphere. It was a bit smaller than he had thought; around the size of a small peach and covered in faded carvings. What interested him was the formation they created. There were four perfectly circular rings across one side, all meeting at each end of each other, creating a star-like four-pointed shape in the center of the sphere. In the middle of it was another smaller ring, and some sort of discoloration inside of it.

The Ferines looked at her, noticing how intent and serious she was staring at it, yet her eyes were lit with excited fascination. "…Did you find this on the mainland?" He asked slowly, wondering what could make this so special as to invoke such a reaction from her. He hadn't seen her so excited about an archaeological find since their group found an ancient dragon horn worth thousands in the Quiet Lands.

Norma nodded. "This was why the old man asked me to come back to the university so quickly. The university's scholars found this at an excavation of a coastline ruin near Gadoria. He was very secretive about it, and stated the ruins and this… relic dated back to around the Kingdom of Terises."

Walter's eyebrows rose, and she continued, "I know, you wouldn't have thought it just by looking at the little thing, but it gets better." She dug through the pile of miscellaneous items on the floor and found a flat black case. Opening it, she retrieved an expensive-looking magnifying glass crafted from brass. She held it up to the light and magnified the center ring of the stone ball's etching. The blond looked closer, and noticed that inside the circle was a small triangle with a few carved characters inside the two shapes. His eyes squinted trying to make out the markings, but they seemed too worn away to make out.

"Ok, so there are some blurred carvings… or symbols. It's unique, but that doesn't make it as special as you make it seem." He responded, trying to hand it back to her. Something about it made him uneasy for some reason…

Norma pushed it back at him. "Hold on, hold on! I'm not done yet! …Give it here a sec!" She set down the magnifying glass and plucked the little ball from the bed of cloth strips it laid on. She made him drop the coarse cloth onto the desk and gestured towards it. "Watch…" The treasure hunter announced as she placed the relic into one of her palms. She activated her eres, and gently touched the object with her shining fingertips. The perfectly engraved circles seemed to glow from within, and the carved characters became clear and more focused.

Walter reached over and grabbed the brass instrument from where she set it down, and looked through it at the symbols, shifting the glass up and down to focus it just right. With the symbols shimmering, he could see there was another tiny triangle inside the first, with some sort of rune inside of it. There were seven symbols in all: three on each side outside of the larger triangle, three inside of it and the intricate rune inside the smallest triangle. They looked similar to Relares, but the lines were more jagged and sharp. "…Is this supposed to be Relares?" He asked, lowering the glass instrument from the sphere.

Norma shrugged. "I have no idea, I'm as stumped as you are! None of the markings on the symbols are as smooth or curved as Relares, but they don't look like anything else I've seen before in my studies. Even the scholars at the University are scratching their heads about it." Norma let her eres fade away and grabbed the small velvet pouch from earlier. She gently pulled open the drawstrings and reached inside to pull out a large shard of iridescent blue crystal. "You remember this, right?"

Walter nodded, "A shard of the Everlight… I didn't know you kept it."

"I always keep it with me. It's just a way of keeping my master's dreams with me, and… to remind myself to never give up. No matter what." She smiled when she looked at the shard, remembering Sven's last message to her.

Motioning to the ball in her hand, she continued, "When I was working late one night, I had the Everlight shard in my jacket pocket and forgot to put it away. When I reach over to grab a book, the shard fell out and touched it. There was a big flash of… something, and there were red sparks all over the place. They even singed the books I was working out of! The shard was blasted across the room, and there were black smudges all over it. It was like it had been struck by lightning or something."

She placed the shard back into the pouch it came in and placed it on the desk. "I don't know what caused this thing to react so violently, but I was gonna come back and chat with Maurie about it. Maybe he has a clue about it, since the Everlight has some of Nessie's power in it, right? Maybe he can recognize the symbols in the middle of the carvings, if it really is Relares."

The Ferines' face was unreadable as he stared down at the innocent-looking ball in Norma's fingers. "This relic sounds ominous, Norma. I… I don't know, something feels off about it to me."

"Really?" The crystal eren quirked her head to the side then looked down at the sphere in her hand. "Nothing feels bad to me; I feel fine." She held it up to the lamplight for good measure; nothing odd about it at all.

He shook his head and continued, "That's not what I mean." She began to toss the strange sphere lightly from hand to hand and Walter shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe it's just me, but something just doesn't seem right about it. It's not in the way Schwartz or the black mist felt wrong by twisting your own emotions against you, but… It feels malicious."

Norma stopped tossing the ball like a toy as a serious expression crossed her face. "I don't know, Wally… None of the professors at the University felt anything different when they were around it, and for good measure they did a bunch of experiments on it to make sure it was safe." She looked at the ball seemingly lost in thought. "The thing seems to have some kind of power hidden away inside, but it hasn't shown even a little bit of that until the shard touched it."

The brunette turned the ball on its side and glanced at its circular rings. "I mean, they even tried to see if it could be damaged, but the thing's practically indestructible. Chisels, sledgehammers… Heck, even my spells didn't do anything to it! Not so much as a crack on it, yet it's that old…" She looked to Walter and motioned for him to catch it. "Here, try using your eres on it. The thing's more durable than a diamond!" She tossed it his way, and he caught it with one hand like he would any ball.

Almost immediately after the stone ball touched his hand, a number of things happened within the next few seconds. Blinding red light erupted from within the artifact, shining through the engravings as if the ball was an elaborate Jack-o-Lantern. Red arcing wisps raced across the surface of the clay ball like electricity. Suddenly a burning, searing pain exploded from where Walter held the relic, shooting waves of fire through him. With a strangled cry of pain he threw the ball away from him and it bounced off the opposite wall, leaving a singed mark on the wallpaper. He stumbled backwards and his back hit the wall, knees finally buckling and sending his violently trembling form to the floor.

Norma rushed to her trembling friend, ignoring the sphere as it gently rolled to a stop and the light inside faded. "Wally!" She knelt by his side, apologies spilling without end from her as she pulled the blond upright so he was leaning against the wall. His blond hair hung in front of his pale face, shrouding his eyes from view. "Oh my god, I'm sorry! I-I didn't think it'd do that! Wally, are you okay?!"

The Ferines stayed quiet for a long moment, his blue eyes clenched shut as he dug his fingers into his arm. Be it from shock or pain, he couldn't force his hands to stop shaking. "Rgh… I could be better…" He grit out between clenched teeth in a jerking tone. His fingers twitched and another jolt of pain shot up his arm. Walter dug his fingernails into his hurt arm, hoping that maybe it might give his mind something else to focus on.

Norma quickly grabbed her straw off the desk and a soft yellow glow filled the room as her eres activated. The yellow light made Walter open his eyes, noticing her fingertips illuminating her worried expression. She gently ran a hand from his shoulder down to his clenched hand, resting on top of his white-knuckled one. "Please, let me see…" She asked quietly, looking at him with eyes filled with concern and guilt.

Slowly, he let his hand slip from his arm and swallowed a sound of pain when she turned his hand over. Norma opened his hand slightly, and her face reflected the same shock that made her stomach flip. His entire palm was badly burned as if he'd held a molten ball of iron, and blood began to trickle form the worst spots. Norma bit her lip as guilt washed over her. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she began casting her healing eres on the burns.

"Norma…" She heard Walter speak, and looked over at him. He stared at back at her with anxiousness in his eyes. "I don't…" He paused for a moment before starting again. "I don't think that artifact reacts just to eres, or the Everlight... It reacts to anything related to Nerifes… and that includes Ferines."

Norma swallowed nervously as she looked back at the now dull-looking sphere, glowing symbols no longer shining from within as it returned to its previous appearance.

What in the world… had she brought back from the mainland?

* * *

 _The artifact is described as being the size of a peach, though it's truly the size of a tennis ball. However, I wrote peach only because I couldn't figure out if the gang would have tennis as a sport or not… Have any of the other Tales games had sports like ours besides maybe football/soccer? As for what it does, you'll just have to wait and see…_

 _There's a LOT of background info between the last fic and this one, especially after the main storyline. The reason I didn't write about THAT instead is because I would get burned out on it rather quickly and stop writing just like Good Help is Hard to Find. I apologize if there's any confusion about what's gone on, though I hope the other characters are gradually filling in the gaps!_


	3. Downtime

_Posting this chapter a bit earlier than normal because I'll be house-sitting next week away from my computer. Hopefully this makes the last cliffhanger a little better on you guys! This chapter was also split up because of the length. Geez… blame NaNoWriMo for making me to write such large chapters!_

 _As a side note, you'll see some mentions of the pairing between Senel, Chloe and Shirley throughout the story. When it comes to Senel/Chloe and Senel/Shirley, I'm watching the shipping war from the sidelines. I respect both fanon and canon, and I think the idea of the two girls sharing him is hilarious, especially considering he doesn't really choose anyone. I don't know if I'll resolve it in the end of the story, but I'll continue putting forth nods towards it.  
_  
x x x

Chapter 3: Downtime

x x x

The next morning, the sky was overcast with grey clouds and a fine mist had begun to fall. It wasn't enough to drench, but was just wet enough to chill a blonde girl walking through the main gates of Werites Beacon. She shivered, and wished she had brought an umbrella or a heavier jacket with her. After her meeting with Maurits and talking to Thyra well into the evening, it had become late enough that Shirley Fennes spent the night at the Village of the Ferines.

The small heels of her boots clacked against the wet stone path, and she side-stepped a puddle to almost step in another one. Shirley sighed to herself and wished that spring would come sooner rather than later. It may have been mid-March now, but from the cold weather to the leaves on the trees just barely beginning to bud it still felt like winter. However, that hadn't dampened her mood in the slightest, since she had overheard earlier that Norma had returned to the Legacy after five long months on the mainland.

Slipping out of her rain-soaked jacket, the Merines walked up the stairs towards Norma and Walter's room. As she turned the corner at the top of the stairs, she nearly ran into a wavy-haired blonde girl clothed in a simple cream-colored dress. "Oh, I'm sorry!" The two girls quickly said in unison, then couldn't help but laugh as they spoke at the same time.

"Uhm, I'm not meaning to be too forward but…" The blond girl began hesitantly. "Are you one of Norma's friends? Norma Beatty?" Shirley nodded curiously. "This is her room, right? I met her on the ship back from Rexalia, and she introduced me to her roommate and friends: Moses and Jay. She even offered to pay for my room!"

Shirley nodded, "Yes, this is Norma's…" She trailed off, realizing she hadn't introduced herself. "Ah, sorry! My name is Shirley." She stuck out her hand in greeting.

The blond girl smiled shyly and shook her hand. "I'm Emilia, pleased to meet you."

The two girls walked the few feet to their friend's room and Shirley knocked on the door a few times. After waiting patiently for a few moments she knocked again, this time a little harder.

"Are they out?" Emilia asked hesitantly as Shirley knocked for a third time, the hallway's atmosphere becoming a bit awkward.

"No, Norma's just a sound sleeper." What an understatement. "Walter usually wakes up before her though… Strange, it doesn't usually take him this long to answer the door." Shirley mentioned with an eyebrow quirked in confusion. Suddenly, the girls suddenly heard the sounds of shuffling and shifting fabric behind the door. A loud feminine yawn echoed through the door, then the sounds of bare feet padded closer until it reached the front of the room.

The door opened slowly, and instead of the blond man the two were expecting, the drowsy girl with short hair greeted them. Norma slumped in place and rubbed her eyes, obviously still half-asleep. She was dressed in soft pajamas and her hair was wilder than usual, strands of hair sticking up in odd places.

Shirley's brows eyes rose in surprise, "Norma…? You're up before Walter?"

"Wally's still asleep..." She mumbled groggily, stifling a yawn. "S'up Shirl?"

The Ferines paused for a long moment, but eventually smiled, "It's nice seeing you again, Norma. How was the mainland?"

"It was ok... Too much studying and not enough hot guys, but it was nice seeing my professors again." Shirley gave her a strange look, as if asking which 'hot guys' she normally saw. Norma either ignored her look or didn't notice, and she stepped away from the door to let them in. "D'you mind if I get dressed an' stuff?"

The girls shook their heads and stepped inside after her. At the foot of Norma's bed against the opposite wall was a pile of clothes thrown on top of a torn duffel bag. Books, scrolls, brass instruments and some other odd materials were strewn and stacked haphazardly on top of the dresser, and there was some odd object wrapped in cloth on top of her bedside table. Her bed just had a twisted pile of sheets on it, as if she had trouble sleeping that night.

Shirley's eyes flickered over to the other bed, where she saw a blond figure still fast asleep. Curled up on his side, she could see a few locks of hair in front of Walter's face move as he exhaled. One of his hands lay next to his pillow, covered in a white bandage. Besides that, his bare shoulders barely moved as he slept.

"So, Shirl! You met Mimi already?" Norma asked, tearing Shirley's attention away from the unconscious man in the bed. The treasure hunter walked towards the pile of clothes and dug through them, grabbing a familiar if a bit wrinkled yellow dress and a few other pieces of clothing.

Emilia looked completely confused. "…Who's Mimi?"

Shirley explained, "That's you. She gives nicknames to everyone." Emilia wasn't sure how she liked the name, since Mimi sounded too close to Millie to her liking.

Norma walked over to the two of them, a bundle of clothes in one arm. "Well in case the two of you haven't met yet…" She pointed over to Emilia. "Shirl, this is Emilia Welares; also a Ferines and my new buddy." Shirley raised her eyes in surprise until the brunette pointed towards her. "Mimi, this is Shirley Fennes, or if you're overly formal like Wally is, the Merines."

She walked into the bathroom and closed the door just as Emilia's eyes seemed to bug out of her head. She stared at Shirley with a mixture of admiration, shock and something else Shirley couldn't name. "Y-you're the Merines!?"

Shirley remembered Fenimore and Thyra's reactions to her title, and braced herself for the worst. She nodded, "Yes… I am."

"So you really are her… I never thought I would meet the Merines, face-to-face." Emilia looked aside, still completely shocked. "You're... I don't mean to offend you, but you're not what I imagined."

Shirley looked aside, a sad expression on her face, "You're not the only one who thinks that..."

Emilia noticed her pensive expression and waved her hands, "...Wait, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you upset! It's just..." Shirley looked back at her, and she stumbled over her words, "Well, I kind of imagined someone taller, in Ferines attire." She pointed at the flowered hairband in her hair. "The flowers sort of threw me off."

Shirley touched the flowers, and couldn't help but nod. "Well... yes, I did switch these for another set when I wore the Merines garb at the Rite of Accession."

"You looked really scary when you wore that, Shirl!" Norma yelled from the other side of the bathroom door, preventing the other girls from forgetting about her.

"Oh, right!" Shirley remembered suddenly why they were here. "Norma, Jay told me you were going to meet with Maurits about something, right?" She called back loudly, not noticing the slumbering man stirring nearby.

"Yeah, why?" Norma asked, the sound of water running in the sink echoing through the door.

"Jay was going to meet up with you as well; he had something he needed to speak to him about." Shirley said.

The door opened after another moment and Norma walked out looking fresh and ready for the day, only missing her socks and boots. She stretched her arms above her head, the edges of her sleeves slipping away from her wrists. "Well, always nice having someone else with us, but any reason why he wanted to chat with Maurie?"

Shirley shook her head, "He didn't mention anything to me. He didn't sound like it was just a casual visit though; he must be investigating something on his own."

Norma exhaled and let her arms drop to her sides, "Figures. JJ never tells us anything." She looked around the room, her eyes searching underneath chairs and near the door.

"Are you… looking for something?" Emilia asked curiously.

She nodded with a frown, "Yeah, I can't find my boots anywhere…"

The blond girl looked around the room and saw a pair of yellow boots at the base of her bed, slightly tucked away underneath. Only the black-and-white decorative band was visible from where Shirley was standing. "Are those them?" She asked, pointing toward the edge of her bed.

The treasure hunter looked over at the bed and grinned. "Oh hey, there they are!" She trotted over to them, not noticing one of her books laying out in front of Walter's bed. "Thanks Shirl-~" She looked back to Shirley to say thanks, hadn't watched where she was going and promptly tripped over the heavy tome. Norma fell forward onto the floor with a loud thud on top of her clothes pile. "Owww…" She groaned in pain, a stray shirt landing on top of her face.

The loud noises finally made Walter's eyebrows furrow together in annoyance. He growled lowly and pulled a pillow over his head, tangling his hair even more. "Some people are trying to sleep, Norma…" He muttered, his voice scratchy from sleep.

Norma just groaned in response, pulling the shirt off her head and picking herself off the floor. Bending over, she grabbed her boots out from under her bed and began tugging them on.

Shirley looked over at her ex-bodyguard and smiled cheerfully. "Good morning, Walter!"

Walter seemed to freeze for a brief moment, as if asking himself if that was _really_ Shirley in their room. He slowly slid the pillow off his face to look over at her with bleary eyes. "…You're here too, Shirley?" She nodded with a small amused smile and he rubbed his eyes. "How long did I sleep in…? Did I forget to do something today?"

Shirley struggled not to giggle. He was rather endearing in the mornings, with sleepy eyes and a bad case of bedhead. It was certainly a change from the normal Walter: strong-willed and sharp as a knife. Now… he looked just like a puppy that had woken from its nap. She finally shook her head. "No, I just came to tell you two about Jay."

He sat up to give her a questioning expression, and it was then he noticed Emilia. "Morning." He half-wondered if Moses would burst in next with the Bantam Bouncers and a twenty-piece band trailing after him.

Emilia blushed and blurted out, "G-good morning!"

The blond blinked as she examined the view outside the window, completely ignoring the others in the room. Shaking his head, he turned to Shirley. "So, what did Jay want?"

"JJ wanted to come with us. Apparently he needs to talk to Maurie too." Norma answered for her, straining to pull on her skinny yellow boots.

Walter shook his head and ignored her squirming. "It seems everyone needs to talk to Maurits today." He turned back to Shirley, who had stepped over to look out the window. "Did Jay say where he would meet up with us?"

Shirley shook her head, "No… though I think he mentioned something about breakfast."

"So he's at the bakery, right." He sat up a bit straighter in bed and combed through his tangled hair with his fingers in an attempt to correct it. Before long, he gave up entirely and left it sticking out here and there. Caught half-asleep with tangled hair and no shirt, he felt embarrassed and too exposed in front of the Merines. He heard a small giggle and turned to look at Shirley with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I'm sorry. …I've never seen you with tangled hair before." Shirley mentioned, hiding her smile behind her dainty fingers. She outright laughed when the other Ferines gave her a dull stare, almost as if he wanted to glare at her but wouldn't resort to that because she was the Merines.

Norma made a frustrated sound as she finally pulled on her second boot, tapping on the heel of it to make sure it hadn't been damaged from all of her tugging. She looked over at the ladies, then to Wally, then back to the girls. Almost immediately, she began to walk over to the girls, pushing them over to the door. "Ok girls; let the guy get dressed already, geez! Ya almost think you'd want to peek or something, not that I blame you!" The girls passed the doorway, and Shirley turned to try and ask Norma something, but Norma quickly spoke over to her. "Bye Mimi, bye Shirl! See you at the bakery in an hour! Bye!" Then she shut the door in their faces, and let out a sigh. Sucking in a breath, she turned towards the beds and called, "Alright, they're gone now!"

As Norma's voice echoed across the room, Walter stared at his bandaged hand for a moment. He felt small twinges of pain whenever his fingers twitched in movement. The brunette was silent for a long moment, her expression unreadable. She walked over to him and sat down on the edge of his bed. "Does it still hurt?" She asked lightly.

The blond nodded, "Not as much as before, but it hasn't gone away. It hurts if I so much as move my fingers."

Norma's fingertips began to glow yellow as a small healing spell flickered to life over his palm. The greenish light shimmered for a few moments before she let it die down, her eres vanishing as she did so. "I don't get it… It doesn't seem to make any difference if I try and heal it with my eres."

Walter's eyes trailed over to the wrapped sphere on top of Norma's bedside table for a moment, the coarse cloth hiding the strange relic inside it. "Looks like it'll just have to heal naturally…" He mentioned, ignoring the small pricks of pain in his palm as he pulled away the sheets to stand up out of bed.

Norma turned her head as he stretched, trying not to stare as her face suddenly turned pink. "W-well, I'll go meet you in the lobby in a bit and let you get dressed." She trotted over to the door, and shut the door as she heard him grunt in affirmation.

After leaving the room and closing the door behind her, Norma slouched against the doorframe and let out a shaky breath, her cheeks flushed a deep red. As Norma had left the Legacy on the ship five months earlier, she already had inkling at how much she'd miss her friends. It was only when she was in the cabin of the passenger ship on her way to the mainland, laying in a bunk in her own room by herself that she realized just how much she'd miss her roommate.

The entire time on the ship and most of the time in the University, she wasn't able to sleep restfully. Norma guessed somewhere in her consciousness, she knew he wasn't there. During the times she studied the relic and read some of the heavy old books in the archives, her mind drifted to thoughts of Werites Beacon, and often Walter. She daydreamed on little sleep and in her own boredom down the halls and in the library, often forgetting what volume she was supposed to find.

She even encountered her home in her dreams… Dreams of sunny days and happier times, filled with the sound of her friends' laughter, of Grune and of him. Sunlight flickered in his hair and when he turned to look at her with that barely visible smile. His blue eyes seemed endless, their normal frosty color lighter and… happy. Then his slight smile would grow, and his mouth moved with words she couldn't hear. She didn't know what they were, and she didn't care. She just grinned back at him, and followed him and their friends to whatever destination they decided to go.

It seemed the longer amount of time Norma spent away from Werites Beacon, the more she thought about Walter and missed him. Sometimes she thought she'd heard his voice echoing off the stone walls of the college, but it was just another student calling to her classmate. Multiple times Norma swore she was going crazy. Then, when she met Emilia, she told her briefly about her friends and roommate. When she did, a place in her heart began to grow, and Norma smiled as she remembered the Legacy.

Finally, she walked down the gangplank onto the Legacy once more, and the crowd parted and she saw him standing next to Red and JJ. His hair fluttered slightly in the salty sea breeze and her eyes caught hers, and the treasure hunter realized something. As she shoved her bag into Emilia's arms and bolted for him, tuning out the world around her. She leapt into his arms, smelling the scent of the ocean and rain and grass wafting from him and felt his hair brushing against her cheek. After the two had hit the ground and she grinned at him, his eyes seemed to soften. He wrapped his arms around her and her heart felt like it would explode.

After all of that time away from them, _he_ was the one she had thought of the most. It would feel different without him around, sure. He was her roommate, but it was more than that. As much as she thought it would have been impossible… she felt like she found her other half. Norma found out she _liked_ him. Not just liking him as a best friend who paid for your food sometimes and laughed at your jokes and harassed you like any true friend would. She liked him as someone who would whisper her name late at night, crushed against her with lips pressed against her neck-

Norma blushed furiously and shook her head to rid her mind of those embarrassing images. After _that_ realization, whenever she stood in the same room and Walter acted the way he always did, the sight of him made her cheeks flood with color. It didn't help that the blue and black ensemble he now wore made his eyes seem an even lighter shade of blue. She thought his gaze was intense before, but now…

Norma let out a breath and slowly walked down the stairs, trying to make the color in her cheeks go away. How the heck would she live with him now, if she blushed every other time she saw him!? The brunette shook her head, but the pink in her cheeks only lessened a little. She stared out the window of the lobby, seeing people walking down the roads and mist fall from the sky.

...What would happen if Walter found out? What would he think? ...Would he even care? Norma didn't like thinking about the answers to those questions. Walter didn't seem the sort to just stomp on someone's feelings like that, but… she didn't think he had ever thought about anyone like that. Apparently, he had feelings for Fenimore, but that ship had sunk after she died. In fact, she was sure he had at least liked her; memories of her seemed to follow him wherever he went. Sometimes he seemed like he had gotten past them, sometimes he still woke up in the middle of the night remembering her death.

Norma shook away those thoughts and remembered the relic in her room; why she had returned in the first place. "That's right… I gotta find out what the deal is with that thing upstairs… Enough of these silly thoughts! Come on, Norma! Pull yourself together already!" Norma spoke to herself, not paying attention to the door opening upstairs or the innkeeper ignoring her rambling. "You can think about all of this stuff later, when there's no chance of him overhearing anything."

"Overhearing what?" She jumped in place with a small shriek, and whipped around with a flushed face. Walter stood on the stairway, fully clothed with Norma's small bag hanging from one of his hands. He gave her a curious expression, clearly wanting her to continue.

"N-nothing! It's all your imagination, silly!" Norma chirped her voice a pitch too high to be normal. Ignoring the blond's skeptical expression she turned around and pointed at the door, "C'mon! We've got time to kill, breakfast to eat and a Maurie to talk to!"

She felt a hand on her shoulder holding her back, and she turned around to see him drop the bag's strap around her shoulder. "Wouldn't it be hard to ask Maurits about this if you forgot it?" He asked, holding it out to her by the very tops of the bag, not wanting to touch what was inside.

Norma realized what it was soon enough, and opened it to look at the round object covered in cloth shoved inside. She looked up at him and let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks Wally, I probably would have forgotten it!"

The blond smiled at her, causing the faint tinge of pink to enter her cheeks again. "It's no problem…" He didn't notice the slight blush on her face, and began walking to the door, "Jay probably wouldn't like it if we were late, so let's go."

Norma nodded vigorously and ran after him, a slight grin on her face, "Charge!"

" _That's_ the Norma I'm used to." Walter commented, which only made her grin wider.

x x x

Inside the local bakery, Jay was inside chatting with one of the chefs about the seafood they used in a variety in their dishes. He perked up in natural curiosity when he heard the door open behind him. He turned his head slightly and saw a familiar blond and brunette duo enter the building. He excused himself from the conversation with the chef and turned to face his friends. "Good morning. I was wondering how long I was going to wait for you two."

"Mornin' JJ!" Norma greeted cheerfully, even when her eyes immediately wandered towards the counter of sweets. Her chocolate-colored eyes lingered over the raspberry turnovers as she drooled slightly.

Walter was more reserved in his greeting, and asked, "I'm rather curious Jay… Why did you want to see Maurits anyway?"

Jay shrugged, and Norma looked over at the blond and motioned if he wanted one or two snack items. He held up two fingers as the ninja in front of him began speaking again. "I've heard some… disturbing rumors about Gadoria involving the Ferines. I wanted to speak with Maurits to see if he had heard differently or not."

Walter frowned, "I don't think he's heard anything different... I haven't found much to confirm anything myself." Walter opened his mouth to ask the information dealer a question, but shut it and shook his head a moment later. "Now's not the place to talk about it though."

Jay nodded in agreement, and Norma finally finished her business transaction, handing two savory croissants to Walter. Trying to swallow a large bite of her own fruity turnover, she asked, "So, are we going now?"

He shrugged and Walter shook his head. "Not yet… We need to find Emilia first."

The ninja spoke up, "I saw her and Shirley not too long ago." The others turned to him and he continued. "Shirley was going to meet with Senel later today, but Emilia was going to browse some of the shops. I'm willing to bet she'd still be one of them."

Norma nodded, "Alrighty then, I'll look in the item shop, while you two look in the armory and weapon's shop." The others nodded, and they split in different directions after leaving the bakery.

The treasure hunter walked down the street while nibbling on the last of her snack. Trotting up the steps, she swung open the door of the item shop. A small ringing sound echoed from the bell above the door, and it repeated itself as the door closed. The man in charge of the shop looked over at the door from the sound of the bell ringing, and a polite smile lit his face. "Good morning! Anything you're looking for?"

Norma shrugged. "Sort of… I'm looking for my friend Emilia. She's my age; wearing a whitish dress, long blond hair and blue eyes. Have you seen her?" She asked, looking over a few of the items in stock. Still no elixirs for sale… She _still_ owed Jay one of those, and she really wasn't a good enough fighter to try and win them from the Arena.

He nodded, pointing over to the other end of the shop towards the customization area. "I saw her walk over there a few minutes ago."

Norma nodded in thanks and walked past a few shoppers, peering around corners to try and see the blond girl. She finally found her speaking with the custom shop keeper, making gestures towards a staff he was holding. "Hey, Emilia! There you are!"

She jumped, turning to look over at her with surprise. "Oh, Norma! I didn't know when you would be at the bakery, so I decided to explore a bit."

The brunette nodded, "Yeah, sorry me and Wally were a little late… What were you guys talking about?" She tilted her head in curiosity.

The shop keeper held up the staff to her, "She was asking me about what sort of materials she would need to make this." The staff looked to be made of a shimmering blue metal, with delicately-cut crystals adorning the top. The crystals were held in place by pieces of a bluish-white horn and a large black scale; edges sharpened enough to be considered razors.

Norma's eyebrows rose, and she looked over at Emilia in curiosity. "You're thinking of getting a weapon?"

Emilia just shrugged, a faint blush present upon her cheeks, "Well, when I spoke with Jay last night, he thought that I should at least know how to wield some sort of weapon, given how many monsters there are on the Legacy. I thought it over in my head about what I could use most, and I figured I could always learn crystal eres from you and Shirley."

Norma nodded with a grin. "I'd love to show you a few tricks! You might ask Wally about it too; he knows a couple I don't."

Emilia smiled, and then gestured to the staff. "I went to the weapon shop and asked about any staffs they may have had, but the ones they had I couldn't afford. So, I came here and asked this man about what I would need to create my own staff, or at least upgrade one."

Norma nodded, motioning to her. "That sounds good! That's how I got my Scoped Straw!" She pulled out her weapon and twirled it like a baton in her fingers.

The Ferines was silent for a moment in confusion and skepticism. "….A straw with a scope?"

"Hey, shush you! It's more powerful than any of my other weapons!" Norma pointed out, putting away her steel-gray straw. "Besides, customizing your weapons is the best way of getting a more powerful one, instead of just buying them for a ton of gald. You just gotta find the materials for them!"

"Well… the items aren't easy to find though…" She began to say, but Norma interrupted her.

"Nonsense! I'm sure we can find them!" She turned to the shop-keeper and grinned, "So Shopkeep! What kinda materials do we need for this pretty little thing?"

"A sea gaet horn, a couple diva scales, some blue crystals from the Crystal Forest and a plate from a black dragon." He let the staff rest against the ground and scratched his chin in thought, "Then depending on what sort of material I had as a base, I would need a certain amount of eres stones to imbue power into it. If it was made of this blue mythril material, then not a lot would be needed; mythril is magical by itself. If it was just ordinary steel though, then I would require a lot of eres stones from different sort of creatures, mainly those that use eres themselves."

Norma took a step back in shock. "All of that just for a staff…? You'd be better off just buying it!" Emilia slouched after hearing this.

He shook his head, "Not really. This staff is by far one of the more powerful items I can craft, especially for you crystal erens. The only other weapons stronger than it are my Gungnir, the Eternal Sword and your friend's Kaiser Greaves. Magical items are harder to craft as is, and this being my most powerful one, it requires the best materials…"

"…Okay…" Norma said as she struggled to get over her shock. She looked up towards the ceiling in shock and counted off the materials in her head. "Red and his gang can probably find the divas and the dragon plate, I can swing over to the Crystal Forest for an afternoon and I know Teach has one of those horns in his study. So those are taken care of." She looked back at the man holding the staff, "Uh, where are you supposed to get blue mythril from?"

He leaned on one foot and replied, "It's not a very common metal, but Gadoria crafts some of their officer's swords out of it; more impressive than ordinary steel. Maybe go to a blacksmith on the mainland and have them ship it in." He looked in a tattered notebook behind him, filled with scribbled writing and sketches of monsters. "Let's see… If you weren't able to get a hold of it – blue mythril is expensive, after all – then steel would work and is just as strong." He wrote down a list of materials on a spare piece of paper and handed it to her. "Here's the difference between the two, roughly speaking.

Norma looked over the list and felt a bead of sweat run down her face. "There's a lot of stuff…"

The customizer shrugged, "Hey, nothing but the best, right?" He placed the staff back on the rack it was taken from.

Emilia slouched, "I'm sorry… Of course I looked at the most expensive one they had…"

"Hey… hey, there's no reason to be so glum! You can always borrow one of my straws until you can get your own weapon! They're a little tricky to use, but they're still a good weapon." The treasure hunter grinned at her, and the Ferines smiled back, abet more cheerful but still downtrodden.

"Wait, what's that?" The other girls turned back to the shopkeeper, staring at them confused. "You don't even have a weapon?" Emilia nodded, and he ran a hand through his short hair. "Well, why didn't you say so?" He walked around the counter and over to the wall where there was a wide trunk covered in different clothes for crafting armor. He shoved some of them aside and unlocked it, sifting through it for a moment. He let it close with a great thump, and turned to face the girls again.

In his hands was a carved staff made of wood, a few curved fangs wrapped around the end to hold a small orb of purple crystal. He walked over to Emilia and held it out to her, "Here, you can use this until you have the materials to make that staff."

She stared at it for a long moment, "But… I don't have any money." She eventually said, her voice quiet but her fingers twitched towards the weapon.

The shopkeeper shook his head and pushed it into her waiting hands. "Nonsense! You're defenseless right now; what kind of a guy would I be if I refused to give you a weapon just because you had no money?"

She held onto it, her fingers running up the length of it to touch the violet crystal at the top. "I-I don't know what to say… Thank you."

The man shrugged, "It's not as powerful as the one you were looking at, but it's easy to wield and can channel your eres just as well as any other staff. Just remember to return it one day, ok?"

Emilia looked over at him with her eyes watering and ran over to hug him, "Oh, thank you so much! I promise I'll put it to good use!"

He patted her head awkwardly, "Hey now, none of that; my wife might see!" She suppressed a laugh and the two girls left shortly after thanking him. Norma's item bag was full of one or two more items (after complaining about the lack of elixirs), and Emilia twirled her new staff in her fingers, trying to become more used to its weight.

Jay and Walter were walking out of the bakery again when they saw the duo walk down the street, and ran up to catch up to them. "There you are!" Jay exclaimed with a frown. "We couldn't find you two anywhere, and were just about to check the item shop for you."

Norma shrugged, "Well, I found Emilia, but we got a little carried away chatting about weapon crafting."

Walter's eyes trailed over to the wooden staff Emilia held in her fingers, using it like a walking stick for the moment, "You bought a weapon?" He asked, more curious than anything else.

She looked down at the staff, amethyst stone glittering in the sunshine, revealing the imperfections and tiny cracks within. She looked down at it as she nodded, "Yes… Well actually, the customizations expert in the item shop let me borrow it because I didn't have a weapon. Jay recommended I find at least something to help me defend myself just in case, and I don't think I would be very good at wielding a sword. That and I have no combat experience, so using my teriques and learning crystal eres will keep me away from the monsters on the Legacy."

The other blond nodded in agreement, "That's a good idea, actually. Shirley and Norma are some of the most powerful crystal erens on the Legacy, and it isn't like Norma doesn't have time to show you some of her spells…" She stuck her tongue out at him, which he ignored.

Jay rolled his eyes at the two, and agreed with Walter. "Somehow I thought you would use a staff..."

Emilia nodded, as the four walked down the street towards the duct. "Well, it wasn't the one I was looking at, but the materials shouldn't be as hard to find to craft it, according to Norma."

The shorter teen looked over at Norma, "Oh really…? What sort of materials were needed, Norma?"

"Well, a lot of stuff, depending on whether or not we get the blue mythril or the normal steel for the actual pole." Norma thought answered, tapping her finger against her chin in a manner similar to Grune.

The shinobi was quiet for a long moment, then turned back to Emilia, "…You were looking at the Dragon Slave, weren't you?" Emilia nodded sheepishly and he fought a rising sigh of exasperation. "What is with you women always looking at the most expensive items in the store, be they shoes or weapons?"

Norma grinned, "Well, Emilia and I just have great taste, that's all! We gotta have the best of the best! Even better if we don't have to buy it!" Walter's palm smacked his forehead in exasperation, causing Norma to turn and glare at him, "What? What's with the look?"

"This is why we can't have nice things. You spend all of the money we have on food and fancy accessories." The blond said dryly.

She pouted, "Hey, that moon crystal was a big help against some of the fiends we fought when Schwartz was still around!"

"Yeah… and when you bought that, we had no money to buy gels for when we fought Fenrir. If Chloe hadn't brought extra gels you wouldn't have been able to cast any spells using said moon crystal, depriving us of a support eren." Walter argued, rolling his eyes.

Norma huffed, "Well lucky us that she did! And if I recall, my Tractor Beam spell sealed the win for us."

"And at the same time, you spent nearly ten thousand gald on a bunch of light bottles, climax bottles and gels that mysteriously disappeared a few days later. What happened to all of those, hmm?" He retorted back, glaring in her direction.

Jay withheld a snarky comment as they entered the duct. "Well, they taste just like the taffy from Corinth! I was hungry one night, okay!?"

Rolling his eyes, Jay entered the coordinates to the Village of the Ferines hoping it would stop their bickering. The outside of the duct began to glow and within seconds the four warped to their destination.

x x x

 _Norma, what are you doing? Quit pining over your roommate and start finding out what the heck that thing you found is! In all seriousness though, I hope she didn't sound terribly whiny._

 _The Dragon Slave was a random staff I made up, with a lot of influence from Monster Hunter and the title from Slayers. Mithril is either a silvery or blue metal in most of the games I've played, so I went with blue. 'Cause blue is the best hue! (Please don't shoot me, I love bad puns!)_

 _The situation Norma and Walter talked about at the end of the chapter is very similar to what happened to me. When the Black Onyx and Moon Crystals first became available in-game I spent all my gald on them, then didn't have enough to use on gels for the next boss fights. Cue my team dying a lot. Now I never go out without the max amount of healing items. Learn from my mistake, you guys! XD_

 _Also... You guys see that review counter up at the top? See how it says there's only one review on it in three chapters? It isn't very comforting thinking that I'm writing this for an audience of zero, or rather one. I mean, sure I'll finish this story, but it doesn't make me want to write much more if you guys don't send a review occasionally! Please, review for the sake of the authors writing these stories, be they mine or someone else's!_


	4. Portent Prelude

_Another week gone and another chapter updated. With how busy my work is during the summer it's difficult finding energy to write/edit this story. Though Monster Hunter tends to eat up a lot of my free time. Thank goodness most of these chapters just need editing, though the latter ones haven't been touched since NaNoWriMo… Ick. Either way, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!_

x x x

Chapter 4: Portent Prelude

x x x

Deep within a thick pine forest miles away stood another pink teleportation device. As the wind quietly rustled the pine needles in the trees, the sun shimmered over the lake just beyond the tree-line. For a long while, all was quiet in the trees.

Suddenly, a familiar sound of wind blowing through a sea of grain echoed around the duct; the tell-tale sound of a warp in progress. After a short pause, a small pop echoed in the cylinder and with a flash, four people appeared inside, bringing the noise of an argument with them.

"—and you've never had taffy? C'mon Wally, ya need to live a little!" Norma retorted with a pout as she stepped out of the duct, walking over to where three of their group knew the barrier stood.

Following closely behind was Walter, who continued their petty discussion. "It's not like I ever had the chance of trying it, what with trying to undermine Vaclav here and on the mainland." He argues irritably. "Even if I've never had any, I won't waste hundreds of gald to snack on an imitation when I could just go to the bakery nearby for something better!"

"Spicy melon bread is nowhere near as good as Corinth taffy! They don't even taste sweet!"

"It isn't _supposed_ to be sweet!"

Jay just sighed in exasperation and continued on, following behind the bickering duo with a baffled Emilia following behind.

The Ferines girl could see from the moment they disembarked yesterday that Norma and Walter were close friends. But during some moments… they seemed more like the bitter rivals Norma told her the Ferines and Senel were. Walter seemed like such an unflappable character at first glance; very serious and stoic, almost giving the impression he was aloof. But whenever Norma was around, his cold persona seemed to fade away revealing an individual who showed emotions easily, even if it was irritation most of the time.

"So why not? It can't be that bad, could it?" Norma asked, her glare disappearing in lieu of watery puppy eyes, pleading him to answer her request.

Walter rolled his eyes and paused in place to stare down at her. "Oh for Nerifes sake… Norma, I am _not_ going to pay a ton of gald just so you can import a _crate of candy_ from the mainland. It's unreasonable…" He turned and stepped up to the barrier and held up an arm. His fingertips shined a deep violet as the barrier de-activated. As he let his arm fall back to his side, the illusion of the lake flickered from view, showing the coral-red archway and stepping stones into the village.

"Aww, come on Wally!" Norma whined, as the four of them entered the village, careful not to step in the wide water-filled cracks between the stones. The treasure hunter paused when she looked at her surroundings, noting some of the differences between what it had been like since she was last here seven months ago. "…Is it just me, or are there more Ferines now?" Norma asked, forgetting about their previous argument altogether.

Walter nodded, as Emilia stared around her, her eyes lighting up as she viewed the familiar sights of a Ferines village again. This one was even larger than the one she had lived in most of her life. "Ever since the black mist vanished, the ports opened back up to Rexalia and a lot of Ferines have migrated here since. Maurits was actually thinking if it continued at this rate, they would begin to live in the Mirage Palace again."

Emilia looked over at him with shock in her eyes, "You mean, _the_ Mirage Palace? The place where all the Merines have ruled since the dawn of the Kingdom of Terises?" He nodded again, and she swayed in place, not believing how lucky she had gotten by coming here; by meeting these people. If only Millie was here to see it with her.

Walter walked over to one of the Ferines guarding the gate, who nodded at him in greeting. After a few words, he walked back over to the others. "Maurits should be over here." He pointed in the direction of one of the houses near the side of the lake, and the others followed him. Along the way, one or two people stopped by and spoke to Walter, some pleased to see him and others anxious about the Orerines he brought with him. He waved off their anxiety and calmed them enough for them to continue on their way.

Norma looked around at the nervous-looking Ferines, and looked back to the blond with a worried expression, "Are they still scared of us, Wally?"

Not turning around, he answered, "A few still are, though most of them have seen the others come to the village occasionally, mainly Senel and Will. The peace talks with Shirley and Madam Musette have helped a lot too."

The group approached one of the larger houses on the lakeside, a small stoop crafted from cobblestone leading into the home. Walter rapped on the front door a few times with the back of his knuckles. He stepped back a few feet after hearing movement inside, and the door finally opened revealing the village elder in his normal garb, a book in his hands. His eyebrows rose in surprise, "Walter! I didn't expect you back until a few days from now. What brings you to my home?"

Walter gestured to the other three, "These three wanted to speak to you. May we come in?"

Maurits nodded, holding open the door for them, "Yes, please do. I always enjoy having guests."

The four walked in, and Norma's eyes couldn't help but peek curiously around the home. It was small compared to other houses she's seen, but large compared to the other Ferines homes and filled with everything one would need. A table with paperwork scattered everywhere sat in one corner with an archway leading into a kitchen aside from it. Along one wall were a few bookshelves filled with various scrolls, books and other ornaments she could only guess were of Ferines make. It was less sparse than she had expected, compared to the one or two homes she had seen.

Maurits turned and set the heavier book onto the table, looking at the others, eyes revealing curiosity and patience. "So tell me, what's brought you all to my home today?"

Walter gestured to a blond girl behind him, "Emilia?" The blond girl jumped in place at her name, and then shyly stepped forward, nervous but excited to be in a village with her own people. "Maurits, this is Emilia, a Ferines girl Norma met on her way back from Rexalia. Emilia, this is Maurits, the village elder here." A little quietly, he asked, "He's also my boss, so don't make me look bad."

She bit back a giggle, but it was enough to make her smile. She bowed deeply towards Maurits and introduced herself, "Um, hello sir. My name is Emilia, and my true name is Welares. I'm very pleased to meet you."

He smiled back at her in a way similar to a professor calming a new student. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Emilia."

Walter spoke up in the lull between their words, "Maurits, would you happen to know where Thyra is?"

He pursed his lips in thoughts, then gestured as he answered, "She should still be helping Dasha with her garden. Any reason?"

He shrugged, taking Emilia's hand and guiding her to the door, "I think I may have found her a roommate. I'll meet you two back at the entrance."

The others nodded as he waved to them with his bandaged hand, and the two left the home with a quiet click as the door closed shut. Maurits tilted his head slightly, "So tell me, what was it that you wanted to ask me?"

Norma gestured to her hand and said, "You saw Wally's hand was all bandaged up, right?" He nodded, and Norma walked over to the table, unshouldering her bag and digging through part of it as she spoke, "Well, that's why I'm here. I was called over to the mainland to check out a relic some of the scholars at my university found, but I'm just confused by it. It reacts to my eres and just glows a bit, but when Wally touched it burned his hand, and I couldn't even heal it completely with my eres!"

Jay narrowed his eyes in confusion, "What relic? Was that what you wanted to talk to me about as well?"

The brunette shrugged, "Well, two birds with one stone, I guess…" She pulled out a circular object wrapped in cloth and showed it to the others. She carefully unwrapped the cloth around it as she continued speaking, "As far as I know, there are some blurred carvings that only show up clearly when a person's eres touches it. The carvings are all perfectly symmetrical, but the actual stone dates back to the Kingdom of Terises era." She finally uncovered the relic, the clay-red color perfectly ordinary even with the strange worn carvings on it.

She activated her eres and touched the stone, symbols in the main circle glowing just enough to become readable. "As far as I know, the symbols look similar to Relares, but some of them look off; I've never seen them in my readings or my master's notes. Hence, why I came to you for help."

Maurits expression became serious as Norma placed it gently on the table. "Just be careful not to touch it… If it affected Wally, then it might burn you too…" She added on quickly, a nervous tone in her voice.

The elder leaned close to examine the symbols, Norma's glowing fingers brushing against the side of the stone. After a long few moments, he stood back up and looked over at her. "Some of these symbols look strange because while they're similar, it's not Relares."

Jay looked at the symbols, "They look the same from what I've seen, though I'm no master of linguistics."

Maurits shook his head, and explained, "To most people, even those Orerines who study Relares, they may seem like rarely-used symbols in the language. But most Ferines who know Relares by heart know no such symbols exist." He pointed to the large circle in the center, with a triangle in the center and a smaller reversed triangle inside of it.

"Only three of these symbols are actually Relares. This symbol for 'des', 'jes' and 'ves'." He pointed out each of the symbols in the larger triangle, all surrounding the inner triangle.

"Death, weapon and lightning? Why would those be on it?" Norma asked aloud, puzzled and peering closer at the runes.

"The symbols look similar because the carver of these made the three Relares characters similar to the others; more simplified and with moreso straight jagged lines then curved ones. As far as I can understand looking at this pattern, the more elaborate symbol in the center is the most important one, with these three affecting it, and the three in the outer triangle affecting those." Maurits continued, pointing at each as he spoke.

Jay understood, "So it's a sort of power source, with these other characters powering the ones closer to the central source?"

The older Ferines nodded, "Most likely." He crossed his arms, staring at the relic like it was a difficult puzzle. "If this sphere is from the age of the Kingdom of Telses, then the only people in Shining Blue were either Ferines or very early Orerines. If the maker is an ancient Orerines, then perhaps seeking records of early Orerines writing would result in some answers."

Suddenly it clicked, "You think they copied the Relares on purpose?" The blond nodded, and Norma smacked a fist into her palm as another puzzle piece fit into place, "Of course! They wouldn't have access to many examples of Relares, so they just copied parts of it and made it look like their own writing!"

She quickly wrapped up the relic, cloth already surrounding it as the glow faded from the lack of eres-powered fingertips touching it. "Thank you so much for your help, Maurie! I'm sure Granny Musette or even the old man at the university have some documents about old Orerines script!"

The relic was shoved deep into her bag, and she quickly thanked Maurits for his time, then rushed out the door. The door closed shut behind her, leaving Jay and the Ferines elder alone in his dining room. The younger shinobi shrugged, "Always in a rush, that one…"

He turned to Maurits and asked, "I won't keep you much longer, but I must ask…" He had the older man's attention. "I've heard some worrisome rumors about the kingdom of Gadoria in the past few months. Most of them involve the political unrest and a rise of soldiers in the country, but there were some about Ferines vanishing inside their borders without a trace. The Oresoren haven't been able to find any new information that Walter doesn't already know, but I had to ask you in person if you knew anything different."

The older Ferines was silent for a long moment, but after a while, he crossed his arms as a grim expression passed over his features. "…Walter may be my main informant, but since he prefers to stay on the Legacy I have others undercover on the mainland. Most of them search out other Ferines and make sure they're safe, but I had one go to Gadoria for the very purpose of investigating these rumors. A few weeks ago, he never appeared on the ship scheduled to arrive and it seems he's also disappeared."

He walked over to a desk and shuffled through some of the papers in the bottom drawer, fetching one small scrap on water-damaged paper. "Nothing but silence had come from the mainland. Then not a few days ago, I received a letter from him. His note was barely legible, since it seemed it had been rained on. In it he stated he had been caught, and was on the run. The only other thing he mentioned was that Gadoria had stricter curfews than usual, and soldiers marched down streets on patrol every night. If this is true… then I fear that he is lost to us."

The scrap of parchment in his hands, he passed it into Jay's hands, "Other than the note, he only gave me this, saying that there was a large patrol of soldiers guarding it deep under the castle."

Jay carefully turned it right-side up, and part of his chest clenched when he looked it. It was a hastily scribbled sketch, barely any detail but had enough form Jay could understand what was shown. A large base, with arcane-looking symbols that supposedly glowed cross it. On top of the base was some sort of panel with a half-spherical shape taken out of it. Shooting out of the top was a large cylindrical tube made of metal, strange lines interconnecting with the panel.

The Ferines informant had found the kingdom of Gadoria working on… some sort of weapon?

Jay looked back up at Maurits, who gave him a grave look. "So, they found a…?"

The blond man nodded, taking the sheet back from Jay and stowing it back into his desk. "I felt something very disturbing about that relic Norma found. It had a malicious aura about it, similar to the black mist but not in the same manner that it brings out one's negative emotions. Instead, it felt wrong… evil."

He stared at the teen with a stern gaze, blue eyes so intense he thought they might pierce a hole into his soul. Now he knew where Walter got it from. "Jay, I implore you. Do not let Norma or that artifact leave your sight. Protect them with your life. I have an ominous feeling that sphere and… whatever it was the Kingdom of Gadoria was working on are somehow connected. Bad things may happen if the two are joined."

Jay nodded, swallowing hard and trying not to avoid the older man's gaze. It was in moments like these he remembered this man once tried to destroy the land and every living human with it. "Don't worry. I'll make sure nothing so much as enters Werites Beacon without my knowledge."

Maurits nodded deeply, exhaling a long breath. "Thank you. Good luck finding out whatever that relic is."

The shinobi nodded back, excusing himself and wishing the older Ferines a good day before leaving. As he stepped back onto the path and down the street towards the front of town, unease stirred in the back of his mind with every step. His intuitions were for the most part correct when it came to predicting bad circumstances; it came with the territory of having been a former ninja. Although… for once in his life, he wished this was the one time he was wrong.

x x x

Jay found Norma at the entrance of town, sitting on a smoothed rock wall near the large conference room. Her form was hunched over as she furiously wrote in a notebook, not paying any attention to her surroundings. He walked over to her and waited for her to notice. After a long moment of being ignored, he cleared his throat. The sudden sound made the brunette look up in slight alarm, before relaxing with a small smile on her face. "Oh, hey JJ! Enjoy your chat with Maurie?"

Jay nodded, "If you mean he answered my questions then yes." He looked around the area, raising and eyebrow at the lack of their other group member. "…Has Walter not come back yet?"

Norma shook her head, "I haven't seen him since I left Maurie's house, so maybe he's still chatting with Tulip and Mimi." She continued to write in her notebook, and the silence echoed between them.

"…So, how was your trip away from the Legacy anyway?" He asked suddenly, head tilted slightly as he went to sit next to her. He leaned forward to look at her face as she wrote, his ponytail hanging off his shoulder.

Norma leaned back slightly to look up at the clouds strewn across the sky, the rainclouds finally clearing away enough for the blue sky and sunlight to peek through. "Well, it was certainly different. I had missed being at the University; I never realized how much it was a home for me. But… I missed you guys a ton. Sometimes I would wake up thinking that I was going to see one of you that day, to go monster hunting or help cook or just to hang out… But eventually, I'd realize I was back in one of the old dorm rooms, miles and miles away from the Legacy. One or two times it was so familiar with my childhood I wondered if our adventures on the Legacy was just a dream."

Jay looked down at his hands, fingers clenched together lightly and his thin wrists covered by the loose bluish-violet sleeves of his shirt. "I'll be honest with you, Norma. Things felt off without your presence in Werites Beacon. Things were quieter and went by more smoothly… but it was always predictable. A little chaos in one's day isn't necessarily a bad thing, which you _never_ would have heard me say before knowing you and Moses."

Norma was silent as he continued, "You went away to investigate that artifact, yes… But you also went away because this place reminded you of Grune, correct?" The treasure hunter nodded, and her brown eyes grew sad. "We were all grieving, so I won't berate you for leaving… but at the same time, must you have left on such short notice? We could have helped you through it as much as you would have helped us."

Norma opened her mouth to argue back at him, but her mouth closed shut with a slight realization and a resigned sigh. "…You know JJ, Wally already gave me this whole lecture last night."

Jay shook his head, "Walter minces his words even less than I do, so you already know the point I'm trying to make. Please, just try and write to us more if you are away. Your friends all worry about you."

At the end of his sentence, he caught movement out of the corners of his eye. Walter walked past a corner chatting with another Ferines, saying his goodbyes and turning towards the entrance of the village. The shinobi nudged Norma gently in her shoulder, then motioned over to the path with a small jerk of his head, "Walter's back."

Norma's eyes brightened and she turned to give the blond a wide smile, "Heya, Wally! How was the talk with Tulip? I'm willing to guess she didn't bite your head off, considering you're still here."

The blond rolled his eyes, but couldn't get rid of the small smile at her statement, "No, it went fine. Thyra's become… a little more welcoming to me now, and doesn't hate the Orerines anymore."

She cocked her head to the side. "Wait, she doesn't?"

"More like… a strong dislike. The same goes for myself, since she's probably labeled me an Orerines traitor by now, living in Werites Beacon instead of here." He mentioned after a moment, shrugging as if he couldn't help living away from the Village. "Either way, Emilia and Thyra appeared to get along just fine. She seemed to latch onto the fact they both had sisters. I think they'll be ok living together."

Jay nodded, "I hope Emilia will like living in the Village… She's been away from living with her own kind for so long, it would be hard to see them and not think about her own family."

Walter let out a tired sigh and gestured to the village around them, "Yes, but… Most of the Ferines in this village are refugees from the mainland as it is. Many of them have lost their friends and family already, so just being among the other Ferines in a safe place is a relief." He crossed his arms, "As far as I know, Shirley, Maurits and a few others are the only ones who actually came from the same village. The rest trickled in from the other countries of the mainland."

The ninja looked at the Ferines with a question popping into his mind, aching to be asked and answered. _So what about_ you _, Walter?_ The blond knew what he was about to ask, and stared him down with an intense glare. "I know what you're thinking, and _it's none of your business._ "

Jay shrugged, as Walter walked past them towards the exit. "Well, I tried."

Norma shook her head as she stood up, shoving her notebook into her bag and hurrying after the Ferines. "JJ, I've been trying to get him to open up about that stuff since I met the guy. If he won't tell _me_ anything, he certainly won't tell you." _Well, no more than he already did, which was very little._ Norma thought to herself.

"Again, I had to try." The iron eren repeated himself, and followed after Norma and Walter. He couldn't help that his curiosity continued to grow the more the Ferines refused to tell anyone about his past. He knew it was probably the same sad story as any other Ferines, but the fact he was supposed to know everything didn't help things.

The trio was about to use the duct to warp back to town, but Norma chirped up suddenly, "Um… Hey guys?" The two looked at her, Walter's fingers hovering over the control panel of the duct. "Well, since we're out an about already, would you mind if we got those crystals for Mimi's staff?"

Jay quirked an eyebrow at her, and asked, "Still making her the staff yourself?"

Norma nodded, "Well… I was thinking it'd be a sort of gift for her, since we are friends and all. I was gonna get Red to get some of the dragon scales for me, plus we have a ton of those eres stones already."

Walter looked over at Jay for a moment, and then typed in the coordinates for the Crystal Forest. "I don't see why not… That blue mythril might be hard to find, but we'll have the materials when we get it." He caught Norma's wide grin out of the corners of his eyes, and a small smile lit his face as the trio warped.

x x x

After a few hours of trekking down to the lowest level of the Crystal Forest, the three came back with a small variety of ocean-blue crystals, all of a different size but as flawless as they could find. As they walked down the tunnel towards where the warp to the Everlight was, Walter shifted hesitantly. He stared at some of the cracked craters and smashed stone where his fight with Schwartz scarred the crystal room. As much as Norma loved the Crystal Forest and the place where she found the resting place of the Everlight, the caverns beneath still filled his mind with bad memories. Norma noticed his hesitation and made sure to place her hand in his and pull him along to their destination, hoping it would take their minds off the past.

After walking a ways, the three split up and carefully extracted (read: broke off) a few crystals from the surrounding chambers, some of them high enough that Walter had to fly up and get them. Sooner or later, they found a decent amount of crystals and left for Werites Beacon.

After the three entered the inn to drop off the crystals in her room (they would store the materials there for now until the staff was crafted), the innkeeper stopped them from going upstairs. "Wait, wait! Hold up a second!" He called to them as he leaned over the counter.

The three stopped and Norma looked at him curiously, "What's up? Rent isn't for another week, so it can't be about that."

He shook his head, "No, it isn't. You got a letter." He reached behind the desk on the wall where a row of keys were hanging, and plucked a sealed envelope off a slot in the wall. He walked around the counter and held it out to her. "This letter came in shortly after you left this morning. The messenger said it was urgent that you got it as soon as possible."

Norma cocked her head to the side, her interest growing. She passed her bag of crystals to Walter and walked over to pluck it ou\t of the innkeeper's fingers. She stared at the simple crisp envelope, and flipped it over. Her eyes widened as she stared at the burned wax seal on the back. "Wait a sec, this is the seal of the University of Corinth."

"Why would they send you a letter?" Jay asked, shifting the bag in his arms for a better grip.

Norma shrugged, "I dunno, but it has to be important. I usually only get mail from the old man, and this was sent with the fastest mail postage they have from the Dean of the college." She walked upstairs and waited until they were in the room to tear it open. Pulling the folded sheet of paper from the envelope, she unfolded it and scanned through it silently. After a long moment, her eyes widened in shock and the letter nearly slipped from her fingers. "Wait, _what!?_ "

Walter set the crystals down on a table and walked over to her. "What's wrong?"

Norma scanned through the rest of the letter, her face going white. "The University was attacked a few days after I left! A bunch of armored goons came in… stole a bunch of books from the archives, injured a bunch of scholars, including Zamaran!?" Norma stammered out, her hands shaking.

Jay's eyes narrowed and he walked over to try and read the letter over her shoulder, "Did it say who the culprits were?"

The treasure hunter quivered in place, "It…. They were soldiers, it says… F-from…"

The ninja gently took the letter from her loose fingers and quickly read through it. "…it says they didn't have any emblems on their armor or clothing, but were dressed primarily in blue and black. The leader of the group had a sword unique to him, engraved with what they assumed was a symbol of his country." He noticed small imprinted lined on the front, and flipped it over.

He swallowed hard as he gazed on a scribbled sketch of the king's seal of the Kingdom of Gadoria. "Gadoria attacked them…" He murmured under his breath, remembering his conversation with Maurits from earlier with dread. He hated being right sometimes…

"W-why would Gadoria want to attack the University?" Norma asked, wrapping her arms around herself as the letter's words began to set in.

Walter plucked the letter out of Jay's hands and scanned through it himself as the shinobi answered, "Re-read it. The soldiers probably were just there to steal books from the University's archives, and injured the scholars to get to it."

The blond was silent for a moment, and it clicked. "…The artifact. It makes sense now." He turned to Norma and Jay, tossing the letter onto the nearby desk. "Norma, you studied the relic via different volumes of books, right?"

She nodded, "Yeah, but most of the ones I used are still here with me, and they didn't have much in them. Why?"

Jay caught on. "They were looking for information based on that relic. Or better yet, they were hoping on finding it at the University."

"But… what's so special about it?" Norma asked.

Walter gritted his teeth together as a rising sense of anger filled him. "That relic seems to hurt anything even remotely related to Nerifes. Ferines have gone missing all over Gadoria and the entire country is instable right now. And they're looking for books with information on the relic, if not the relic itself…" He looked over at the others, his fingertips beginning to glow with his violet eres. "If you ask me, they're going to use it against the Ferines."

Norma looked down at her bag, the sphere creating a bulge at the bottom of the bag. "But… why would they want to do that?"

"Revenge, why else?" He growled, glaring over at the far side of the room. "They tried to arrest Shirley at the Altar of the Sea after the fight with Vaclav, probably to control the Nerifes Cannon themselves. Instead of capturing her and killing a number of us, they ended up losing most of their army on the Legacy. After 'winning' the war with Crusand, losing many of their best soldiers to a few Ferines was an insult." Under his breath, he finished, "Not that I particularly minded…" He trailed off on purpose, but the other two got the gist of what he left unsaid.

Jay heard what he muttered under his breath, and looked over at the blond, who was still staring at the wall with his fingers glowing faintly. "Well… that would explain the absence of any soldiers sans the few in Werites Beacon after that happened." He replied, eyebrows slightly raised.

"I wasn't in a right state of mind at that time, so you can shut up about that!" Walter snapped angrily, turning an icy glare on the shinobi. He noticed his lit fingertips and waved his hands slightly, violet eres fading away. He turned to Norma, "So, Gadoria is looking for this relic. If that's the case, the best chance we have is to know more than they do, and prevent them from getting a hold of it."

Norma nodded, and shifted from side to side, "…This means we've gotta tell the rest of the group, right?" The two nodded, and she slouched in defeat. "I was hoping it wouldn't resort to this…"

Jay rolled his eyes and looked at her. "Remember what happened the last couple of times we didn't tell each other what was going on?" Afterwards he winced, remembering Walter and him weren't much better. They all had a problem of telling their friends what was bothering them.

"I almost bit the dust from Schwartz and a poisoned icicle." Norma mumbled quietly.

"I got Shirley kidnapped." Jay noted, looking aside in shame.

"I died." Walter deadpanned, obviously winning the discussion of 'worst things that happened when they didn't share their problems'. The other two gave him a look and he shifted sheepishly. "…I got better."

Norma glared at him, "Well, I doubt that'll happen again if we don't solve this problem!" He shot her a look, causing her to look away suddenly with a strange look in her eyes. "W-well, we know this thing had old Orerines script on it, right? So we need to call Teach and Granny Musette and ask if they have any books on the subject."

Jay nodded, "I assume we can no longer rely on the University; the texts stolen were probably on old Ferines and Orerines languages if you didn't already have them." Norma agreed with him.

Walter grabbed a small object Norma didn't see off the bedside table and shoved it into his bag before walking back to the others. "Well, we can go find them around town; it isn't five o'clock yet."

Jay nodded, "I can go find Moses, Norma will fetch Chloe, and you get Senel and Shirley. We'll all meet at Will's house in fifteen minutes." The blond nodded.

Norma waved her hands quickly at the two, "Uhm, I'll join you guys in a bit!" They looked over at her in curiosity, and she shoved them out while replying, "I need to do something first, I'll see you in a bit!" The door clicked shut after they were pushed out the door, and the room was silent. She distantly heard someone linger at the door, then turn and continue walking downstairs.

The brunette turned and looked at the letter lying on the desk. Slowly, she walked over and reached over to pick it up. She stared at the parchment's writing, brushing off a few specks of dirt from the heavy parchment. As she read over it one last time, her eyes watered. Was this her fault, the University… the old man and other scholars being attacked and injured?

Tears began to well up in Norma's eyes, making the lines blur on the page. She blinked once, and they dripped onto the letter with quiet plops, soaking into the parchment and smearing words she couldn't make out anymore.

X X X

 _Oh dear, things are really turning bad now, aren't they? How mysterious! I wonder what'll happened next! :evil laugh: Ah… but really, I'm having fun writing this story! Or at least certain parts; I still need to edit some of the latter ones instead of staying up watching Gravity Falls and playing Monster Hunter all night._


	5. Hitting the Books

_Is anyone else dying from the summer heat? My job absolutely sucks when it's hot out; construction work is NOT summer weather! Bring back the rain and cool fall air already! Sans that though, I've been so exhausted from work I haven't found much time to write or edit, something I'll have to fix so I can get back to this story. Though the_ stunning _amount of reviews really helps with my enthusiasm and writing. :flat stare:_

 _Either way, I hope you readers enjoy this next chapter! I hope it answers some of the questions left behind from the last chapter._

x x x

Chapter 5: Hitting the Books

x x x

As the sun descended further towards the horizon, the streets of Werites Beacon grew more crowded as citizens left work for home, or just going for a bite to eat at the restaurant. Among them was a trio of people whom saved the world half a year previously: a white-haired man and two blonds, walking side by side across a bridge towards the bakery and the neighborhood beyond.

Senel idly looked around at his surroundings before curiosity got the better of him. He peered sideways at the blond man at Shirley's side, who began to outpace them slightly as if something bothered him. "So, why exactly are we meeting up at Will's house again?" He asked curiously.

Walter made an irritated gesture. "I told you already. Something's happened and Norma wanted to share some information with us."

Shirley's eyebrows turned furrowed together for a moment, sharing the same curiosity as Senel. "What kind of 'Something' happened?" Her tone of voice betrayed the smallest inkling of dread.

He shook his head, looking past his shoulder at them. "I'll tell you when we get there. It isn't the sort of news I want to be spreading around for gossipers to overhear." The other two erens looked at each other sharing the same serious frown and didn't ask again.

When the three reached Will's house, they heard muffled shouting from inside. After sharing a hesitant glance with the others, Senel opened the door and stepped inside the foyer. Almost immediately, they could hear Harriett's loud voice arguing with someone. A moment later, Will shushed her and told her they had important business to talk about. The sound of something loud slamming into the floor echoed through the wall, most likely the young girl angrily stomping her foot.

"Well, _fine_! See if I ever make you pancakes in the morning again!" She ran upstairs, feet stomping up every stair. The group heard her bedroom door slam hard enough to make the windows rattle. Downstairs, Will sighed and pulled off his glasses to rub at his eyes.

The door closed behind the three as they entered the living room and the sound caused Will looked over at them. "Good evening you three." He was standing near the kitchen counter with Moses and Jay sitting on one of the couches.

"Good evening. Rough night?" Senel asked, looking up the steps where Harriet had run upstairs.

Will nodded slightly, replacing his glasses. "Harriett wants to be a part of our group so badly, but from what Jay has told me this isn't the sort of thing I want her to hear."

Walter walked past Senel and Shirley, glancing around the room. "Chloe and Norma aren't here yet?"

Moses shook his head from where he was reclining against the sofa arm, "Nope. Though I think I saw Bubbles runnin' over to the hospital when me an' Jay were walkin' here."

The blond nodded slightly, and walked over to recline on the loveseat that hadn't been taken while the Senel and Shirley chatted with each other.

Since Walter had become an official member of the Fun Bunch (Norma even planned a small party with Moses) the group designated Will's living room their conference room of sorts. In fact, they used the area so often that Will ended up having to buy a few pieces of furniture just so half the group wasn't sitting on the kitchen counter or the floor.

Or in one memorable instance, the group of Norma, Walter, Moses, Jay and Grune tried to crowd onto a loveseat meant for two. The couch ended up tipping over backwards, breaking a potted plant and sending the five sprawling on the floor. They spent the remainder of the day nursing their bruised heads and pride. Now, not only were there two full-sized couches but also a pair of plush armchairs and a loveseat against the window.

Shirley and Senel went to find seats just as the front door opened. After some distant chatter beyond the foyer door, it opened and the pair of Norma and Chloe entered. Senel and Chloe shared a smile at each other in greeting while Norma skipped over towards where her roommate was lounging. "Heya all! What's shaking?" She cheerfully called to everyone even as she flopped onto her roommate, who let out a surprised gasp when she sat on his stomach.

The others cheerfully said their greetings, all ecstatic to see their friend back again. Chloe nodded as her hello, a warm smile lighting her face, "It's nice to see you again, Norma. How was your trip?" Nothing about the knight had changed in the six months Norma was gone, save that her short boots were exchanged for longer ones to compensate for the cooler weather.

After Walter shoved Norma off of him and forced her to sit on the other end of the small couch, she waved a hand in a bored gesture. "There was too much studying and not enough hot guys around, but I guess it was okay."

The four guys in the room save for Will heard the line, and became so quiet you could see the ellipses running through their minds. Shirley and Chloe gave the treasure hunter odd looks that spelt disaster to any other woman who laid eyes on Senel. Norma continued on as if she hadn't said anything wrong. "But, that isn't why I called you guys here. We've got bigger problems than my boredom."

The group eventually shook off their shock and sat down in their prospective seats. Chloe and Shirley shared a couch with Senel between then, and Will took the extra armchair next to one of the couches.

Senel looked around at the group to see if they would say anything, then turned back to the treasure hunter. "What sort of problems, Norma?"

"Did'ja get in trouble with someone on the mainland again, Bubbles? Take a crown jewel from a king?" Moses teased, and inched back when the blond near her glared at him. "Geez, it was just a joke…" The redhead continued, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Joke or not, this is serious." Walter replied in a terse tone. He glanced at Jay and motioned for him to start the discussion.

The shinobi nodded and took the floor. "I'm going to assume you have all heard at least one of the many rumors surrounding the Kingdom of Gadoria in the past few days, correct?" Most of the group nodded, and he quickly recapped for the ones who hadn't. "Long story short, Gadoria is under a great deal of political turmoil, and there are reports of increased security and vanishing Ferines from all around the country. According to a few sources I've already met with, they're all correct." He let the news sink in for a moment before continuing. "Worse still, a few days after Norma left her University on the border of Corinth and Rexalia it was attacked by a large group of soldiers."

A few of the others sat up in their chairs as shock flooded their expressions. "The Corinthian University of Linguistics was attacked?!" Will asked, the only one sans Norma who knew the full title of the school.

Jay nodded, "Yes… To make matters worse, when they attacked the university a large number of tomes were stolen from the archives. Many scholars were also injured in the attack, including Zamaran. The leader of the force had this symbol engraved onto the hilt of his sword." He passed the sketched insignia over to Chloe who gasped at the sight of it.

"You recognize it?" Senel asked, looking at her in concern.

"Yes, I do; every knight of Gadoria does… This is the symbol of the king's personal army, the most elite force of knights in the entire country." She spoke quickly and stumbled over some of her words in disbelief. "But… why would the king's personal army steal books from the University of Corinth? What purpose does it serve?" That was the question on everyone's mind at that moment.

"They were obviously seeking information… But on what, exactly?" Shirley finally spoke, not quite wanting to know the answer.

"What they were looking for, were texts dating back to the Kingdom of Terises era, all written in Relares and old Orerines script." Norma answered suddenly. The others turned to her and she elaborated. "I know because I studied through them before I left. Heck, I still have a lot of them with me back in my room at the inn."

Moses cocked his head to the side, "Yeah, but why's the question here. Why'd they want a bunch of old books anyways? What kinda info are they looking for?"

"They need evidence… confirmation about an ancient relic that was found not long after we defeated Schwartz." Walter answered, his blue eyes trained on the treasure hunter next to him.

"A relic?" Senel asked, looking at Norma for more information.

The crystal eren nodded. "After we beat up Schwartz and saved the world again, I received a letter from the old man. Apparently, a bunch of scholars found some weird artifact on a dig and since I know a ton about Relares they wanted my opinion on it." She dug into her bag and pulled out the clay-colored ball of stone, wrapped in coarse cloth. "This artifact, to be precise…"

Will looked at the little cloth-covered ball and he peered at Norma with an eyebrow raised. "Go on…"

"Well, all they could figure out was that it reacted to eres and the stone it was made of dated back to the Kingdom of Terises era." She continued, unwrapping the ball as if it were made of glass.

"In others words, it's a magical rock?" Moses asked, and Will glared at him. He shrugged helplessly, "What? Can't I liven the mood a little in here?"

"No." Jay responded in a deadpan tone, earning a dirty look from the redhead.

Shirley turned back to Norma and asked, "So, the stone reacts to eres? How?"

Norma paused. "Well, whenever you touch it with your eres activated, it glows. There are little carvings all over it, but they only show up when a person's eres touch it. Plus, it's invincible. The scholars at the University tried all sorts of stuff to destroy it or crack the dang thing, but the thing's indestructible."

"That means it can't be broken, Moses." Jay mentioned off to the side.

"I know what invincible means, Jay! So, it's like Shirley and Wally back when we didn't have our super sacred eres and they had the glowy hair and deus-ex-machina goin' on." Moses explained, and the two Ferines in the room looked at one another for a moment.

"Glowy hair, huh…?" Walter asked no one in particular, giving Moses a strange expression.

Jay looked at the bandit chief like he had just graduated college. His expression mirrored that of a person who had inhaled a fly. "I'm surprised you even know that term, let alone understand what it means and used it in the right context…"

"It's a technical term." Norma waved off her roommate's question, rolling her eyes. She pulled away the cloth to reveal the clay-red relic in her hands. "This little thing is the source of all of our problems. Be afraid, be very afraid…"

Senel blinked. Well that was anti-climactic. "It doesn't look very threatening to me."

"Well, feel free to take a look at it yourself. Just don't let Shirl touch it no matter what you do." She tossed it to Senel, who caught it and looked over some of the faded carvings.

"Why shouldn't I touch it…?" Shirley finally asked, her eyes trained on the little red ball in Senel's hands.

Walter held up his bandaged hand in response. "Because it seems to reject anything related to a Ferines, badly. I grabbed it last night and even with Norma's healing spells the burns on my hand haven't gone away."

Chloe's eyes widened, "What…!?"

Norma held up the small pouch from her bag which held the shard of the Everlight in it. "It's true. When I was investigating it on the mainland, the shard of the Everlight fell out of my pocket and touched it. There was a big flash, a bunch of red sparks and the shard went flying across the room. Same thing happened when Wally touched it too."

The group's eyes were wide and Senel suddenly tossed the artifact to Will. "Suddenly I don't like touching that thing…" He said after a strange look from the oldest member of the Fun Bunch.

"So if this rock's so bad it explodes stuff an' hurts our friends, someone tell me why we ain't just tossin' the thing into the ocean and let that be the end of it?" Moses asked looking at the thing like it was going to bite.

"Because the Kingdom of Gadoria probably wants this relic and I can presume that very bad things will happen if they do get it." Jay answered.

"…What sort of bad things?" Shirley asked nervously.

The shinobi cleared his throat and began, "I went to see Maurits earlier today to ask if he's heard anything different about the rumors in Gadoria then what I already knew. Nothing was out of the norm, but a few weeks ago one of his informants went missing, and he recently got a letter back from him—"

"Wait, what?" Walter exclaimed, staring at Jay. The teen shrugged in confirmation, and the blond crossed his arms and rolled his eyes to stare holes into the wall by the door. "I wish that man would stop hiding things from me…" He growled quietly to himself.

"Anyway, he got a letter back from the informant, who was investigating the rumors about Gadoria. The letter simply stated that he'd been found out, and he had just enough time to send out a letter to Maurits." He fetched some paper and quickly scribbled down something. "He found a large number of soldiers guarding… something. This is a rough generalization of what the man had sketched down."

He showed the others the sketched drawing, and a cold chill ran down the spines of the other party members. The girls in the room grew pale, and the pair of Senel and Walter looked as if they were going to throw something. Senel clenched his fists together in anger. "As if things weren't bad enough." Walter simply got up and walked over to the kitchen trying to prevent his eres from exploding to life.

"...They're creating a _weapon_?" Chloe asked finally, her voice very quiet for once.

Jay nodded grimly. "That's what it seems like…"

"If I'm correct, that hole in the center of the control panel… It's the perfect size for this relic." Will mentioned.

Norma nodded and stood up to pluck it out of his hands. She returned to the loveseat and silently activated her eres. The artifact reacted to her eres, suddenly glowing from within and showing off the strange symbols and carved circles on it. "If we're gonna make sure that Gadoria doesn't get this thing, then we've gotta know what these symbols mean. And of course, make sure we can protect it if we have to."

Will leaned forward to try and get a better look from his seat. "Are they Relares?"

"A few are, but according to Maurie most of them are actually ancient Orerines runes. So Teach, I need to look through your library and Granny Musette's for anything that might help." She continued as she deactivated her eres and her fingertips stopped glowing. Soon after, the symbols on the stone ball faded away, once again looking like a simple clay ball.

Will nodded and Senel spoke up, "Well, at least we have a starting point."

"Way to be positive, Senny!" Norma cheerfully replied, a small grin on her face.

"So, a small group of us will look through some of the old texts in the libraries and pick out the ones relevant, and then we'll look through them and try to figure out a translation for an old and most likely dead language?" Jay asked, and the treasure hunter nodded. He sighed. "Well, this isn't gonna be fun."

"Ah, cheer up Jay!" Moses spoke up, loudly clapping the black-haired teen on the back. "I thought you liked books; this should be a cinch!" The teen turned to glare at the bandit who proceeded to ignore him.

"Moses, learning a language is far from easy. Deciphering even a commonly-spoken one is difficult and translating one you don't know is even worse." Will scolded.

"And considering Norma, Shirley and Walter don't know as much about old Orerines script like they do Relares, this isn't going to be that easy to figure out." Chloe continued, looking at the small stone ball in Norma's hands.

Norma held up the ball and looked at it closer like it was a puzzle to solve. "Well, I know the basic theory that old Orerines is similar to Relares in that they are both languages based around symbols that could mean a bunch of different things. Maybe the symbols on here will help us figure out how this relic and that weapon thingie work. If we figure that out, we might be able to dismantle and destroy this thing!"

Will nodded, a slight look of sadness in his eyes, "Yes… Much as I would wish to study it, if this relic can serve as a power source to that weapon and can be used to harm people, it is better off gone."

Norma wrapped the relic back up in the coarse cloth and shoved it deep into her bag. "Alrighty then, we have a plan! A planny plan! We'll go to the libraries tomorrow and find out whatever we can on this stuff!" The group nodded with her. The blond, having been quiet since he left the conversation eventually found truth in her words and rejoined the group's discussion. Norma grinned wildly and her arm shot into the air in a battle pose. "All units, chaaarge!"

The other seven figures pumped their fists into the air and cried out, _"Chaaaaarge!"_ They couldn't help but cheer themselves. It was something they always did as a party, but it was also to remember Grune and back when they were saving the world. This time, they were on the path to saving the Legacy once more.

x x x

Late that evening, at a time where the streets were empty under bright lampposts and a strong breeze was blowing through town, a lone figure lay awake in the town. Norma lay under the rumpled covers of her bed, staring at the dark shadows of shifting tree branches moving across her ceiling. She blinked wearily, her mind repeating what jay had told them earlier this evening.

The relic wasn't just a strange magical rock, but an ancient power source. The power source to some sort of weapon the Kingdom of Gadoria had either found or was in the middle of creating. The artifact itself seemed to repel and actively hurt anything related to a Ferines… so what would a weapon powered by it do?

She exhaled softly and her bed creaked slightly as she turned over onto her side, looking over at the blond in the other bed a few feet from her. He lay on his back but his head was turned towards the other wall, so all she saw was a glimpse of his bare shoulder and blond hair falling away from his face. The two of them hadn't slept well the following night after she showed him the relic and Norma didn't think they would tonight either. Try as she might, her mind kept wondering and repeating what-ifs. What would happen if that relic was plugged into that weapon, and it was used on the Ferines? What if it was used on her friends, on Wally…?

…She forced away the memory of her best friend doubled over in pain from last night with difficulty. She didn't want to let her imagination paint a worse picture then what she had already seen in reality.

Letting out another sigh, she tried shifting into a more comfortable position to try and fall asleep. Her bed creaked loudly and she growled under her breath in frustration. She blew a tangled strand of hair out of her face and shifted onto her back again. Thoroughly annoyed at sleep evading her, she was tempted to turn over and glare at the wall for the rest of the night.

She heard movement from the next bed over, "You're still 'wake…?" Norma turned and looked over at the blond, whose head was turned towards her and obviously still mostly asleep. The only way she could tell he was even remotely awake was the dim lamplight from outside reflecting in his eyes.

Norma frowned slightly, wanting to unload her worries on someone but also wanting him to get some sleep at least. The poor guy didn't get much as it was. "I can't really sleep…" She finally admitted, her vague answer purposely ignoring the discussion from earlier that evening.

Walter blinked very slowly, obviously trying to fight off sleep for the moment. He turned over so that he faced her, his blond hair shifting in front of his eyes. "Clear your mind… Think of…" His brows scrunched together as he fought for a suitable answer from his sleepy mind. "Rainy days in a quiet library… Place th' makes you happy…" He breathed in deeply and exhaled a last phrase before falling unconscious. "…fallin'… love…."

Norma's eyes opened sharply and she shot upright, staring at the blond. She wanted to ask him what his last sentence was because she didn't hear him correctly. But all that she saw was a slumbering blond, once again having fallen asleep. Typical.

The treasure hunter's head leaned backwards onto her pillow and she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind like the Ferines had said. Let the world fade away and think of past friends and happier times. She imagined Grune in her mind smiling at everyone and no one at the same time, and her old friend brought a smile to her own face. Perhaps if Norma stayed positive, and smiled for Grune like she promised… then things would be alright. Things would go back to the way they used to be.

…She could only hope so.

x x x

Much later that morning with the sun hidden away by thick grey clouds, Jay walked into the inn expecting to wake up Norma and Walter. Instead, he was nearly bowled over by the redheaded bandit chief that made up one member of their party. "Wha… Moses?" He stammered out, pushing the bandit away from him.

The redhead grinned at him and waved, "Oh hey Jay! Nice mornin' isn't it?"

Jay was about to comment on how dreary the morning actually was when he heard a small laugh behind the bandit. He glanced past the redhead at the doorway behind him to see a familiar blond and brunette walking out of the inn, the light sound of Norma's laughter following them. "Hehe, morning JJ!" Norma greeted with a smile and a wave.

The ninja turned to Moses with a raised eyebrow. "You came to get them?"

Moses nodded, "That, and I picked up some dragon scales and a shiny black dragon plate. Bubbles said her friend needed some and I had a couple layin' around, so why not give 'em to her?"

"That just means I need to get the blue mythril, some eres stones and the gaet horn from Will!" norma grinned, rubbing her hands together at the aspect of creating the powerful weapon. She remembered how hard Chloe, Shirley and her had worked to craft Senel's Kaiser Greaves, but the look on his face was worth it. Not even to mention, no monster got past him with the new weapons.

"Make that a lot of eres stones, Norma." Walter spoke from behind them as the small group began the small walk to Will's house. "We don't know if we'll be even be able to get that blue mythril. By the sounds of what's going on in Gadoria it isn't a good idea to use it anyway. We're better off imbuing steel with magic then using it."

"Awww…. But it won't look as cool that way!" Norma complained with a pout.

"Well, paint it then. We don't know if it'll be possible to get it at the moment…" The brunette pouted at him and he exhaled in exasperation. "Trust me though, if I can find a way of bringing some back I'll make sure you'll get it."

"What…? You're not leaving for the mainland, are you?" She asked suddenly, her expression uncharacteristically serious for a long moment.

To her relief, Walter shook his head. "I'm doing everything I can so I don't _have_ to. I hate the mainland." For some reason, this caused Norma to smile warmly and her cheeks to brighten with color. The blond didn't notice as the four continued on their way. They crossed one of the many bridges, having to step aside for one or two passing citizens.

One of the women who passed looked over the three men briefly before a small smile curved her lips. She sashayed slightly, batting her eyes and whistling at them in a low tone. The four paused for a short moment and looked back at the woman, who made a gesture towards them. "My my, a redhead, a blond and a raven-haired man… Whatever could a trio of fine gentleman like you be off to? And can I tag along?" Her voice was a lower octave than most, and was smooth as silk.

The four all had very different reactions. Norma's eyes widened in indignant offence, either at the woman's obvious flirting or the fact she was ignored entirely. Moses' face flushed the same color as his hair, appearing as if he would fall over from too much blood flooding to his brain at once. Jay's eyebrows rose at her seductive offer, half-wondering whether she was serious or that she was just a really, _really_ bad spy.

Walter raised an eyebrow at the woman for a long moment before rolling his eyes. "Not interested, go take your offer somewhere else." He reached over for Norma's hand and gently tugged her by him towards Will's house.

The woman's mouth hung open in shock. Was she just rejected by this handsome blond… for a plain-looking kid with no chest?! What was the world coming to when loli-lookalikes like her were more popular than a woman with the perfect body! The nerve! "Damn, he was the cute one too…" She mumbled under her breath, turning her attention to the other two. "Sad I can't have the whole set, but I hope you two could—"

"We have to be somewhere and the meeting isn't for civilians. Besides, you're really not my type." Jay cut in, grabbing Moses' arm and dragging away the blushing redhead. The shapely woman babbled incoherently at not one but three attractive men refusing her. This day really sucked.

Finally, the group reached Will's house and the woman hitting on them left their minds entirely. Jay opened the door and led the way into Will's living room. Looking around, they didn't see anyone in the room. Norma walked over to the small greenhouse Will kept in the next room over, but no one was there. "Huh…" She walked back out and called out, "Hellooo? Teach? Senny?"

Moses heard a faint voice from one of the other rooms, and motioned for the others to follow him. "Yo guys, he's in here." They nodded and followed after the bandit.

Through a larger archway the group walked through the other room which held a corner nook and a large spiraling staircase. High above them hung a complete dragon skeleton, poised in mid-flight. Walter's eyebrows rose as he paused to stare. "He keeps a dragon skeleton in his house…?" He asked himself incredulous at the natural historian's obsession with the Legacy.

Norma shrugged at him. "For science, I guess." She looked forward and noticed the others left without them. She ran to catch up, and they did before the group stopped at Will's study in the next room.

The study was large, with half of it functioning as his personal library. Two walls were filled floor to ceiling with bookshelves, all stuffed with tomes of information on any subject you could think of. Between the two walls were two additional rows of bookshelves dedicated to natural history. On the other side of the room sat one or two large tables, papers and notebooks scattered all over, held down by either various writing utensils or empty coffee mugs. Nearer to the corner, a large writing desk held a large stack of books on one corner while the other side was clear save for a pile of scribbled notes. All around the room were signs of his profession as a natural historian. Small samples of stone or crystal sat on top of notes, the skull of a rare monster sat on display on a bookshelf, and above his desk hung the large horn of a sea gaet.

In the corner of the room, the four saw Shirley paging through one of the books absentmindedly while Senel and Will talked to one another near Will's writing desk. In a large plush armchair on the end of one of the bookshelves was Harriett, deeply engrossed in what Norma could only guess was a novel.

Norma waved at the three with a wide grin, "Heya guys! What's shaking?"

Senel glanced over at the four and nodded back to her. "Hey, we were just waiting for you all to show up. Maybe Will and the rest of us can use his study to figure out what exactly we're looking for."

Norma nodded cheerfully. "Right you are, Senny!" She plucked the relic out of her bag along with a sheet of paper. The piece of paper had a few symbols drawn on it: both the Relares that was carved onto the relic and the other mysterious ones that accompanied them. She laid them both on the table, one away from the other and pointed at the designs on the paper. "Alrighty, so we're looking for anything similar to these. Any sort of runes or characters even remotely similar will do. When we find those, we can start narrowing them down."

Will and the others looked over the sheet carefully while the treasure hunter unpacked her borrowed books from the University and unload them onto the table. "From my guess, I think the center symbol looks like a combination of two or three symbols, probably changing around the meaning some." And with that, the group nodded and went into separate areas of the library to begin their search.

Around an hour later, Chloe arrived with Elsa in tow, and the two of them helped search the library as well. Harriett stayed in her corner reading her book, happy to be around the group as they went back and forth between the bookshelves and the tables. Moses looked through a variety of old literature, scanning through them for any signs of runes while failing of forcing away boredom. Norma, Shirley and Walter scanned through the small assortment of books containing bits and pieces of Relares for any clues on old languages. Will went through some of the older history books printed in a foreign language only he could understand and the rest meandered through the bookshelves helping in any way they could.

After a few hours, it was almost noon and the group hadn't found anything. There was one false alarm, but it turned out to be some very bad handwriting by the author. Harriett offered to make some lunch, promptly causing the entire to jerk in combined grimaces of horror and dread. Chloe and Shirley immediately offered to help her and the group sighed in relief.

After the girls finished up with lunch the group stopped their research and ate out in the living room. Will forbid any sort of drink or food in his study, less they spill something on any of his books and he casts Lightning on them in anger. Never mess with a historian and his library…

Lunch consisted of sandwiches filled with roast beef, ham, a smoky type of gouda, lettuce and spicy mustard. Surprisingly, Harriett had an idea of making a spicy sandwich and actually asked for help in how to make one. Instead of making everything spicy, the meat and cheese set off the spicy mustard and enhanced it instead of making it so spicy their Ferines friend would refuse to eat it. The younger girl heard the compliments the group gave the girls and beamed with pride for the rest of the day.

In passing, Walter commented on how spicy it was, and in looking through some of the books he'd stumbled upon a recipe for curry. Not wasting a chance, he copied it down and stuffed the paper into his pocket for later. Someday, he'd make that curry when all of this had calmed down some…

After lunch, the group returned to the library and searched nearly the entirety of the bookshelves with possible runes in them. Still, nothing had been found after another few hours, and they were left with fiction, biology and the occasional cookbook. The group sat defeated in random spots around the room, their eyes and minds tired from all the text. "I can't believe we haven't found a single book on runes yet! Not even one!" Norma whined, lying on the chair sideways she was on feet kicking outwards and hanging off the edges. Chloe and Elsa sat at the foot of Will's armchair, and nodded in agreement.

Senel and Shirley looked at her from their chairs near one of the tables. "Well, we've searched through all of the books on history, language, culture and even geology. There are not much more places we can look…" Senel pointed out.

"Not unless you're hoping to find ancient runic languages in an old cookbook…" Elsa joked lightly.

"I'm booored." Moses complained, yawning widely from where he sat on the floor. "If we were lookin' for somethin' under fiction or somethin' it'd be a little more interesting."

"Says the one who whined about all the boring literature you were reading earlier." Walter pointed out from where he leaned against one of the tables, earning a dirty look from the redhead.

Jay sat on Will's desk and shook his head at the two. Turning back to Will in the chair beside him, he commented, "Well, what else could possibly have ancient runes and Relares in them? Perhaps novels or even biology, but those sorts of texts wouldn't have the sort of information we would need…"

"Maybe we need books that are as old as the carvings themselves?" Shirley asked.

Will sat across from Senel and Shirley, paging through some of the books half-heartedly. "Well, none of the books I have are that old. Most ancient texts from that time came from stone carvings and tapestries, and even them any that have been found are in the possession of museums and art collectors. Even if we did have anything like that, the information couldn't have been as old as the Kingdom of Terises… Most of the events of that era were considered myth anyway, so we can't expect to find any substantial evidence." Will commented, running a hand through his hair in exasperation.

Walter's mind grabbed onto something, and an idea came to mind. "Wait… Will, what did you say?"

"…None of the books I have are that old and they didn't exist then." Will repeated.

Walter waved his hand, "No no, later than that."

"The events of the era were considered myth?" He asked, giving him a strange look.

Cloe tilted her head at the blond, who had grown quiet again. He rubbed a hand across his eyes as his mind worked furiously trying to add onto that glimpse of an idea he had. "What are you thinking about, Walter?"

He looked ahead for a long moment, "When you all were still in the Quiet Lands, you found out the truth about the history of this world and the Legacy, correct?"

Norma nodded, "Yeah, Nessie told us all about it in the monuments. How the Legacy had humans on it and came to this world, the Legacy being the center of the Cataclysm and all that other stuff. But what does that have to do with anything?"

The blond turned back to the others, "But before that, none of you had any idea… You all assumed the world had always been the way it was and the Cataclysm was only a legend, right?"

"There were many theories in varying degrees of truth about what happened during that time, but the Cataclysm was never proven to have actually happened. Most of the information regarding the events were pushed out of memory and history, and over time it faded into nothing more than a story to scare children." Jay explained.

Norma caught on. "If the Cataclysm was just considered a story, then they wouldn't be in a section on history."

The blond nodded eagerly, his eyes brightening slightly. "Exactly! They would be written under the label of legends, myths, old folk tales; that sort of thing."

"Will, where are your mythology books?" Senel asked, standing to his feet.

The older eren pointed over to the far side of the library. "They're in that corner, between cooking and history."

And with that, the group began searching through that one genre, taking out most of the section of books and scanning through them for a sign of anything relevant. After another hour of searching and finding nothing, Elsa's quiet voice broke the silence. "Um… guys? I think I may have found something."

The group shuffled over to the table she was sitting at, and she laid down her book on top of a few of the others. It was a large leather-bound text, cover worn and pages fraying from both age and use. Elsa flipped the page she was on and pointed at a black and white image of an old etching. In the carving, two armored men facing one another with faded runes written beside them. "It says here, 'In one such tale, Njord the king of man saw the cruelty and evil of Aegir, the lord of storms and chaos. Filled with jealousy towards his brother, he sent torrential storm across the land, swallowing up the mountains and hillsides in a calamity unlike no other.

Underneath the etching was a painting of the two grizzled men, strange carved symbols between them. "Njord sent a small bird to investigate, and whispering a spell it stole Aegir's power from him: the runic spells. Learning the spells himself, Njord halted the storm and cast it back into Aegir. It hurtled him away into the sky, where he remains to this day calling upon storms whenever Njord had his back turned.'"

"Hmm… I've heard of the two mythological gods in this story. They're old Norse gods, though I've never heard this interpretation before." Will pondered quietly, but was mostly ignored by the others when another Fun Bunch member spoke up.

"That must be it though!" Norma exclaimed as she bounced in place, ecstatic grin on her face. "This Nord guy took Eggie's powers, which were specified to be runic spells!"

"Eggie?" Walter commented in a deadpan tone, giving her a look.

The crystal eren ignored him and pointed at the symbols on the old etching. "I'll bet you guys a thousand gald these are the same ones we're looking for!"

"Well, the runes certainly look similar." Jay said as he examined the sketch and the pictures together.

Moses pointed at the picture, "Hey, these two are the same ones that're on the red ball o' doom!"

After a closer look, Chloe nodded. "So they are… And here's that beam-like one. "

Senel crossed his arms and couldn't help but look relieved, . "Well, we found our secret language. …Now how do we know what it means?"

The members of the Fun Bunch turned to each other, puzzlement and realization on their faces. Silence permeated the room, only broken when Moses flopped onto the floor to lean against the table's leg. "I give uuup!" He whined.

Norma propped her chin on her elbow and rubbed at her eyes. "This just keeps getting harder and harder! Gah!" She stomped on the floor impatiently and out of frustration as well. The party seemed to share her sentiment, save for Will who was busily copying down the symbols from the small excerpt.

"Well, it's getting late anyway. I need to go back to the hospital else my father worry about where I am." Elsa mentioned, looking at Chloe with a hopeful expression.

Senel looked over at the two, "Are you going home too, Chloe?"

She shrugged, "Well, my eyes are beginning to water after reading through all of those books. I'm probably going to go as well." Her answer caused Elsa to beam.

Norma looked over at all of them with a frown, "What, you're all just gonna give up? Lazy!"

"You do know what time it is, right?" Walter asked her, looking over at the clock on the wall which stated the time after 8:00. The brunette looked over at the clock and her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

Will shrugged off Norma's comment. "There isn't as much to do at the moment save looking for other signs of these runic symbols. You all go home; I'll see what I can dig up in my other books."

The group smiled at him in appreciation. "Thank you, Will." Shirley replied, a relieved smile upon her face.

"Yeah, now I can finally eat something!" Norma announced loudly, placing her hands on her hips and bending backwards slightly to stretch her spine. Quiet cracks were heard here and there, and she leaned forwards with a relaxed smile on her face.

"Yahoo, me too!" Moses cheered.

Jay recoiled away from the redhead's loud voice and rubbed at his ringing ears. "Must you be so noisy?"

Eventually, the group said their goodbyes to one another after helping Will pile their research materials on a large table near the back. This left only the mythology books plus a few tomes on history on his writing desk, where the man would go back to after getting a bite to eat for himself.

Harriett was lying on the couch in the living room fast asleep, her nearly-finished novel hanging limply from her hands. On their way out, Shirley pulled a warm throw off the back of one of the armchairs, and covered her with it. The Ferines girl gently plucked the book from her fingers and closed a small scrap of paper on the page she was on, saving her place before returning it to the table next to her.

Walter paused for a moment and watched her do this, then turned before she noticed her gaze. The blond caught Senel looking over at him, eyebrow raised, causing the blond to jolt in surprise for a moment. They looked back at Shirley for a moment, then the blond shrugged and gestured towards Norma near the door, following her out. The other eren gave the exiting pair an odd look, gears turning briefly in his mind before Shirley returned to his side and effectively shut down the thoughts.

As the two roommates passed over one of the many bridges in town and the sky had turned dark enough for the light posts to be lit, Norma noticed a pensive look in the Ferines' eyes. She leaned over and nudged the blond in the arm, causing him to look over at her. Norma gave him a puzzled expression, as if asking a question.

Walter blinked, but shook his head a few moments later.

She frowned at his silent answer. "You're not fooling anyone."

The blond paused in place, looking ahead silently for a long moment. Inevitably he sighed to himself and reached down to slide her hand in his. "Follow me."

Norma led him lead her away from the main street and towards a more private area of town. A few minutes later Norma found herself by the small memorial statue at the base of a large hill. Nearby was the cobblestone path that lead to the graveyard. The lamppost at the edge of the street threw off golden light, brightly illuminating Norma's yellow attire, making it seem to glow in the dark. Walter seemed to blend into the night, golden light reflecting off his platinum-blond hair and frosty eyes.

Norma looked over at him in curiosity, searching his eyes for what could have been bothering him. "Okay, so what's up Wally? You haven't seemed yourself since last night when we all chatted about the relic."

Walter wanted to grit his teeth and not say a word, but the concerned look in Norma's eyes finally made him sigh. "It's… I'm going to assume Maurits told Jay about the Gadorian weapon his informant spoke of. He didn't say anything while you were there?"

Norma shook her head slowly "No, he didn't mention anything about that. I was in sort of a rush to leave, but we mostly talked about the relic. Why?"

He frowned, "It's just… Even after nearly four years of working for him, he still doesn't trust me enough to tell me these things. Yet he'll suddenly announce all of his secrets to _Jay_? Of all people, the information dealer who can't keep his nose out of other people's business?" He made an aggravated gesture, crossing his arms and glaring at the street.

The blond growled quietly under his breath as he ranted. "I could understand him being tight-lipped about keeping dangerous secrets to himself, but for Nerifes sake he'll talk to Jay about them. You would think that he would trust me considering that I did whatever task and mission, no matter how impossible he wanted me to. I was lucky to escape some of those times with my life, and he would rather talk about something so important with a person he's known for a little over a year!? What point is there working so hard to please the man when he trusts these things with others, with Orerines who probably wouldn't think twice about spilling it to other people!?"

After a long moment, Walter seemed to remember Norma's presence and felt his anger draining away to a quiet bitterness. He looked up at the dark sky, clouds shrouding the stars and the moon from view. A quiet rumble echoed above their heads, sending a warning cry to those below of the rain that would soon follow.

Quiet through the blond's ranting (she had become used to them when they were still battling Schwartz), she walked over the few feet to stand in front of him. Norma walked over to stand next to him. Her fingers hesitantly brushed against his hand, which twitched at her touch. She let her fingers slide into his hand, and after a moment, his hand closed around hers.

Walter's sighed and looked back at her, his brows furrowed together. "I'm just tired of it." He replied finally. "I'm tired of being lied to, and taken advantage of, like I'm just an asset and nothing more. I know Maurits cares in his own way; he's just looking after the other Ferines. But… sometimes his actions don't make it seem like he does."

Norma nodded slightly, stepping closer to lean against his chest, staring up at the cloudy sky. She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders as another large rumble shook the air, the smell of rain around them. "You're not just an asset or a pawn, Wally. You're my best friend. You're part of the Fun Bunch, and that means you've got friends that care about you, ya know? You don't have to keep all your worries to yourself; you can always talk to us, to me."

She felt him exhale a long breath, and she looked up to see his eyes much more relaxed. "…I know. To be honest, I'm still getting used to it." He admitted.

"Sharing your worries with us?" She asked curiously, a smile on her face.

"Having friends, people to rely on, someone who trusts me that I can trust back…" His arm tightened around her shoulders, pulling her more against his chest. _'Someone like you…'_

She smiled brightly at him, her brown eyes reflecting the golden lamplight nearby. "Hey." She nudged him slightly, "Better having them now than not, right? Besides, could you imagine what'd it be like without me hanging around?"

The blond's lips quirked upward into a slight smirk, "Quieter."

Norma frowned, causing the blond to chuckle. "Hey, you're too quiet for your own good, ya know that? You need a little noise in your life!"

Walter opened his mouth to retort until another loud rumble shook the skies, causing the two to look up. A small flicker of lightning flashed through the clouds, and the booming thunder echoed through the sky as static shot from one cloud to another. Walter waited for the thunder to dissipate before responding. "…I wouldn't have been a very good spy if I hadn't learned how to be silent on my feet, would I?"

"I guess not, though that wasn't the quiet I was talking about." Norma shrugged.

The Ferines took one last look at the sky, then back to Norma, "It's starting to get late… We should probably go back now." The brunette nodded, and after a long moment the two roommates slipped apart, their fingers slipping apart as they walked.

As they passed by the road leading to the hospital, Norma paused for a moment. She looked at her hand absentmindedly, a warm blush spreading over her cheeks as she remembered the sensation of her hand in his. A smile grew on her face before she shook off her blush and followed after Walter.

After they had gotten halfway to the inn, the skies suddenly gave a huge rumbling boom, so powerful it seemed to make the ground quake under their feet. Not a few seconds later, a huge downpour of rain fell on the town. Norma sputtered indignantly as it drenched them, and the two were forced to sprint to the inn, small giggles escaping the brunette as they did.

They ran under the roof of the inn, and Norma couldn't help but laugh as she wiped freezing raindrops away from her face. "Well, that was unexpected! Now we're soaked!"

Walter nodded slightly, brushing wet hair out of his eyes and looking at the two of them, "Agreed… Though I'm not one to dislike rain, I hate spring for its sudden monsoons…"

"It's still winter Wally; spring isn't for another two weeks." Norma spoke up, grinning at the drenched blond who rolled his eyes. He looked more like a half-drowned cat at the moment, and she voiced the comparison. The piercing blue glare she received was worth it, even if she resisted backing away from him.

He looked back out at all the rain from under the roof, and shook his head. He opened the door and gently pushed her through it, hand on the middle of her back. "Come on, we're going to freeze out here."

He didn't catch her flushed face as she walked in, and the two walked up the stairs littering raindrops all over the carpet. They left wet footprints over to their room's door, and Norma tried to squeeze some water out of her sleeves as the blond unlocked the door. The two walked inside and while Walter was able to get his looser boots off with no problem, Norma's clung to her skin almost like a thick piece of plastic. So, while the blond had walked into the bathroom to grab a towel, she was still trying to tug off her boots, bouncing on one foot.

After many aggravated grunts and muttered insults to her boots were heard, the blond rolled his eyes. He peeked out of the bathroom at her, his black and blue shirts missing and hands toweling off his hair. "Norma, are you seriously having this much trouble taking off a pair of boots?"

The sight was hilarious, really… The brunette sat on the floor cross- legged and was tugging on the bottom of her boots. The soles were off her feet for the most part, but her calves still clung to the tight vinyl-like fabric. Her cheeks were red from exertion, frustration, embarrassment and the cool chill running down her still-drenched body. She noticed him biting his lip to keep from laughing and glared at him. She took a break from tugging on the bottom of her boots to rub her shoulders, shivering slightly. "Hey, these things are clingy when they're dry! I'd like to see you wearing these and try to get them off yourself!"

Walter struggled not to laugh at her frustrated tugging, trying to withhold a grin. From her glare, it still showed anyway. He shook his head and leaned against the doorway, drying off his hair with the towel. "Oh trust me, I've already worn those types of boots already. Never again…"

She gave him a curious expression, an eyebrow rising and giving him a strange look. She tapped on the bottom of her shoes where there were heels present. "You wore…?" She snickered at the thought.

The blond shook his head vigorously and flushed after realizing what she meant, "Nerifes, not _those_ kind! I meant by the ones I used to wear with my Ferines attire!"

Norma nodded, but still gave him a frustrated look. She tugged one more time at her boots then threw her hands up in defeat. "Oh, I give up!" She flopped onto her back and wiggled her foot at him, the bottom of her boots wiggling like a wet rag. She huffed in irritation, trying to force away the shivers running down her arms.

Walter rolled his eyes at her antics and disappeared into the bathroom for a moment. After some rummaging noises, she heard his bare feet crossing the floor, and suddenly felt a large fluffy towel drop onto her lap. "Thanks." She responded gratefully, wrapping it around her form as a drop of water fell from her bangs onto her nose.

He shook his head and shrugged, "You're shivering, Norma. I wouldn't be a very good friend if I just let you freeze, would I?" Norma nodded slightly, her pink cheeks reddening even more. His comment had brought on a slew of awkward mental images involving the two of them, a bench in the rain and a lot of inappropriate touching. She was currently in the middle of purging the thoughts from her mind with a large bottle of brain bleach when she saw the blond looking at her boots with a contemplative expression on his face.

Norma noticed the look and waggled her foot in front of him again, yellow sole flopping on the edge of her feet. "If you can do a better job of pulling them off, feel free."

Walter withheld a snarky remark, and knelt down to try and pull them off. Before he touched her leg, he gave her a meaningful look, all humor fleeing his face as he spoke. "If you kick me, I'm throwing you out of the room for the night."

She laughed at the very serious threat, "Alright, I won't do anything!"

With the slightest nod he gently slipped his hands around the top of the boot, directly under her knees. She wiggled in place at the ticklish sensation, and without looking up he responded, "Quit wiggling so much."

"But it tickles!" She whined, and he rolled his eyes.

"You'll get over it." He slipped his fingers into the very tops of her boots, gripping the top and tugging downwards. After a few moments of struggle and ticklish wiggling from Norma, the boot finally peeled off. Shortly thereafter, the other one lay against the floor with its twin.

Norma grinned as she wiggled her now-freed toes, even while shivers wracked her frame. "Thanks a ton, Wally!"

Walter shrugged and he pulled her to her feet, "I'm a Ferines; you figure out how to deal with wet clothing after a while." Once the brunette was on her feet Walter pushed her into the bathroom, "Come on, you're still shivering."

"Yes, mother." Norma snarked as she walked into the bathroom, pulling the towel away from her form to drop it onto the counter.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Just take your shower already." The blond remarked, waving a hand at her as if dismissing her. He made to walk out of the bathroom, but a look from Norma stopped him. There was a… mischievous light in her eyes. "…Yes?" He asked as an eyebrow rose in slight confusion.

Norma gave him an evil smile, and a drop of water slid down the back of the blond's neck. "…Why are you staring at me like that?" Walter finally asked after Norma had successfully made him uncomfortable under her stare.

"Ohhh, nothing…" Norma sang as a wide grin spread across her face before she poked him in the chest lightly. "I just can't escape the fact you pushed me into the bathroom and told me I should take a shower. Aaand here you are without a shirt and you haven't left yet. It really makes a girl wonder, hmm?" She remarked, fixing him with a teasing expression.

The blond finally caught on to her teasing, and Norma hadn't thought his face could turn that shade of red. After a long moment of staring at her with his jaw dropping, he shook his head and pivoted on his heel to march out of the bathroom. "Beatty, I swear to Nerifes you are one of the most aggravating people I know! Your mind goes to the worse, most filthy places possible, I swear!" He practically yelled from outside the bathroom, his voice stammering in spots.

Norma could only imagine the blush on his face was getting redder after thinking about it. His reaction was so hilarious she couldn't help but laugh. It was so funny she rolled on the ground howling with laughter, tears springing from her eyes. There was never a dull moment with the two roommates, that was for sure.

x x x

 _Awkward ending point, but just remember that this chapter was originally around sixteen thousand words long. That's a LOT to swallow at one time unless it's an oneshot. So, I'm ending this chapter on a cheerful note. See you in the next chapter!_


	6. Revelations

_Part of this chapter is one of my favorite parts of the first half of the story. It was so much fun to write and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it! (Trust me, you'll know which part it is.)_

X X X

Chapter 6: Revelations

X X X

While Norma hadn't been kicked out of the room she shared with Walter, the blond had refused to speak to her for the rest of the night after her teasing. After a few times of trying to annoy the man, he used his eres to temporarily trap her in a sphere similar to the one that had captured Shirley. It was only then that the crystal eren left her roommate alone, and the evening went on without any more incidents.

The thunderstorm continued on throughout the night, passing on just before the sun came up. The rain, however, hadn't ceased one bit. Even through the dreary morning, it drizzled continuously even as the town began to wake and go about their normal routines.

Along with the rains also came colds, especially around the time between late winter and early spring. So it was then that one of the Fun Bunch's members hadn't been seen all morning. Norma and Walter had left for Will's house earlier that morning; at least, after they'd had breakfast and the blond getting even with his roommate's teasing by making her pay for it. The two walked quickly and dodged most of the puzzles but still got rained on. Sure, Norma's light jacket and Walter's old black cloak helped with the rain, but the drizzling shower still did its best to soak the two to the bone.

But before they even got as far as the bakery, the roommates were stopped by one of their friends. Chloe was quickly walking up the road when she spotted the two, rain dripping off the edge of her cap and rubbing her arms. "Hey, over here!" She called loudly, waving her hand in their direction. The two soon noticed and made their way to her in the center of the road, careful not to step into one of the many puddles in the road.

"Hey C, good morning!" Norma called cheerfully, waving at her.

The blond seemed to give the sky a dirty look as the rainwater dripped from his blond hair before saying his good mornings as well. "Well, morning. It isn't all that good…" He said lightly, his cloak tighter around his shoulders.

"Aw cheer up, Wally! The rain isn't that bad." Norma grinned from underneath the hood of her jacket, her hair frizzy but for the most part dry. The blond just sent her a withering glare in response.

Chloe smiled at them and nodded, by now used to their bickering. Then she became somewhat serious again, "Hey, have you two seen Jay this morning?"

The two looked at each other and shook their heads at the knight. "No, not since yesterday night… Why, is something up? Did he insult Harriett's cooking again and now she's on the warpath?" Norma asked, head tilted in curiosity.

Chloe shrugged, rubbing her arms for some semblance of warmth. "Well, I don't know. He's usually the first to arrive at Raynard's home in the mornings, but when I arrived he was nowhere to be found. I wonder what's keeping him…"

Walter shrugged. "He'll be here, so don't worry so much. Jay hates not knowing something, so he'll be there even if he had his hair dyed bright orange and cut like Will's."

Norma couldn't help but snicker at the mental image, and she nodded, "Hey, if not, we could always visit Jay-Jay and the Scallops if he hasn't shown up, right? Better than waiting out here in the rain!" She looked down at her boots with a frown. She may have had a warm raincoat, but that did nothing to protect her if she wore a dress and thin boots; her legs were freezing!

"I told you before, you should have bought a set of winter clothing or something when you got back. But nooo, you just had to spend your gald on—" Walter started to speak, rolling his eyes at her shivering.

Norma threw up her hands in frustration, "Oh, shush Fluffy!"

Chloe bit her lip to withhold her chuckles as she saw the blond's eye twitch. She's remembered how frizzy the blond's hair could get when it got soaked, and it was funny every time. He turned and gave her a deadly glare, "What, you need a new nickname for me now?!"

"Well, I got you to stop, didn't I?" The brunette grinned at him.

Before the indignant Ferines could retaliate, Chloe cleared her throat. "Weeell… I'm sure Raynard and the others are waiting for us. So, why don't we go to his home instead of waiting out here in the rain?" The two roommates looked at her, then each other for a moment. After a while, their postures relaxed again and they calmly followed after Chloe, as if they had been that way the entire morning.

Over at Will's house, they entered through the foyer of the house dripping rainwater everywhere. Next to the door were a number of hooks where a few wet coats were hung, water dripping into a small puddle forming below it. From the entryway, the three could hear voices coming from near the adjacent stairway, around where the study was being kept. One of the voices was obviously Moses' from his loud accent, and another was barely audible; most likely Shirley's. The last one was as loud as it was hoarse, complaining before stopping to cough.

As the three hung up their coats and cloaks, they walked through the house into the other room. They could see Moses and Shirley speaking to a flushed Jay, who was huddled in a blanket on the stairway with a few books next to him. The three of them all showed signs of the rain from outside; from Shirley's slightly damp hair to Moses' wet shoulders which still left wet trails down his bare chest. "I don't care what you say; I'm not leaving when I have a chance of helping you all!" He croaked out, raising his arm to cough into his sleeve.

Shirley shook her head, "You're in no condition to have traveled over here Jay, especially in this rainy weather we've been having. Pushing yourself is only going to make your cold worse, so just rest and let us take over your share of the researching." The black-haired teen shook his head, trying to clear his throat.

Moses shrugged and gestured to him. "Aw let him help a little, Shirley. Poor guy just wants to help out his big bro, is all!"

The shinobi gave the bandit a withering glare, his intimidating expression heavily diminished by watery eyes and sniffles. "I'm doing this so we can find out what that relic is all about, not for you!" He nearly began coughing again, muttering something about stupid bandits under his breath.

The trio consisting of a treasure hunter, a knight and a Ferines finally entered the room, overhearing the others speaking (or bickering, if they had been paying attention to Jay the most). Norma spoke up and waved at the three. "Hiya Shirl, Red, Jay-Jay!" She took one look at the shinobi and winced. "Aw dang, you have a cold? Stay away from me, I don't want germs!" This earned the brunette an annoyed glare.

Moses turned his head towards the others and a grin spread across his tanned face. "Hey y'all! Mind helpin' us out? Poor Jay here's sick as a dog and don't want to get any shut-eye."

Chloe looked over at Jay, "You're sick…? And you came all the way over here from the Oresoren village?"

He rolled his eyes at them, sniffling before speaking. "Well, you need help deciphering that runic language. Finding out more about this artifact is more important than my cold."

Walter couldn't help but snort, "And I'm willing to guess you walked all the way back to wherever your home is on foot? There was a thunderstorm last night, and ducts _do_ exist, you know. If the weather was that bad you could have spent the night in Will's spare bedroom."

The shinobi glared at him. "I know ducts exist, Walter! Excuse me if my home is in an underground village that freezes every winter."

Norma shook her head, being serious for once. "Still, we don't wanna keep you from getting better, Jay-Jay! Just go eat some soup and sleep in a little!"

Jay shook his head quickly, his stubborn streak showing finally. "There's more important things to do then sleeping! A cold is just a cold; it's not like I'm dying of pneumonia! It's just _reading some books_ , how hard can that be? I wish you all would understand that!"

During Jay's ranting, Walter rolled his eyes and gave Moses a questioning look. The bandit shared knowing look with him, jerking his head in Jay's direction. After a moment, the two gave a slight nod to each other, and moved towards the ninja.

Back in the study, Will and Senel were going through the various books that the older man had picked out the previous evening. Senel almost ripped a page out of a book on accident when the loud voices echoed in from the hallway, making him jump in surprise. "What the hell, get off of me!" The two heard Jay's hoarse voice yell, scuffling noises and loud thuds following soon after.

"Oof!" They heard Moses yelp in pain followed by a sound of surprise from a woman nearby, either Shirley or Chloe.

"For Nerifes sake, it's for your own good Jay!" They heard Walter grit out in aggravation. "Quit lashing out at everyone, your illness isn't helping anyone!"

"No! I refuse to be carried around and put into a time-out like some child! This is insulting!" Jay angrily yelled back. More thuds and noises were heard from the hallway, and they heard Chloe shout, "Hey, watch it!"

"C'mon, you're sick, Jay! Just go sleep it off-" Moses tried to reason with him, until another thud and a sharp yell of pain interrupted him. "Oww! Hey, quit kickin' me! We're tryin' ta help!" Will and Senel looked at each other, wondering whether or not they should intervene. More sounds of violence beyond the door made them second guess helping with… whatever was going on.

"Then _let go_!" The shinobi yelled back, his voice hoarse from screaming in indignation along with his cold.

"The sooner you rest the sooner you'll get better! Just go to bed already and quit attacking everyone!" Norma's voice echoed beyond the door. Yup, Senel definitely wasn't joining that hornet's nest beyond the door.

Finally, there was a large thud and a pained 'oomph' sound from the other wall, followed by something hitting the wall with enough force to nudge the furniture on the other side. Will reached over and caught a lamp just as it was about to fall off a nearby table.

"Are you okay, Wally?!" That was definitely Norma.

"Jay, cut that out!" Chloe's voice echoed in this time.

" _You fucking kicked me in the_ face!" They heard the blond roar at the ninja, sounding like he was about to kill something. Part of Senel was worried it would be Jay if the teen didn't stop kicking everyone.

"Maybe if you would stop manhandling me like a sack of flour I wouldn't have kicked you!" Jay fired back angrily. There was more scuffling, and the door suddenly threw itself open, noise flooding the room. Shirley ran into the room and slammed the door shut just as they heard Moses yelp in pain.

Her face was pale and Senel looked at her in worry, but she shook her head. "Don't… It's a war out there." She said with all seriousness, causing Senel to bite his lip to prevent himself from laughing.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light from underneath the door, a mixture of blue and violet. "Oh, using eres now? Wow, now who's the one picking on a sickly teen!" They heard Jay's voice echo beyond the door, tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey, you forfeited the 'I'm sick, woe is me' card when you started attacking everyone!" Norma accused as the annoyance in her voice showed clear as day. The group heard another series of thuds and scuffling before they heard a cry of pain from the treasure hunter.

"Cut it out, Jay!" Chloe said beyond the door.

All at once, there was a bright flash of violet underneath the door along with a very loud zap. All of the thudding and sounds of fighting ceased. "For Nerifes sake, enough already!" Walter said after the suddenly loud silence, a quiet fury in his voice.

Will, Senel and Shirley shared a worried look for a moment before the door opened and Chloe poked her head through the door, hat slightly askew. Her fingertips glowed blue briefly before she let them go away. "Sorry about all of that. Jay is sick and refused to rest."

Senel felt his lips twitch into a smile as Shirley nodded. "I think Madam Musette heard the commotion from her house."

Norma wiggled her way past Chloe and looked around the room for a moment, "Hey, any of you guys got tissues?" Will pointed at the corner of his desk where a tissue box sat, and the treasure hunter grinned as she snagged it. "Thanks!" And with that she dashed back out the door.

Curious now, Senel got up from his seat and walked over to peer around Chloe at the scene beyond the door. When she stepped aside so he could see, it was all he could do to prevent himself from laughing.

The room was, to put it lightly, a mess. There were footprints on the wall, a scratched floor and a picture frame had fallen off the wall and cracked the glass cover. A nearby potted plant had fallen over dusting the ground with soil, and that was just the room itself. Immediately, he noticed a sickly Jay sans blanket was held within a glimmering violet bubble-like sphere, the exact one that had been used to hold Shirley and Fenimore. On the other side of the room, Walter stood with his fingers glowing vibrant violet with his eres, and his wings were out as well. One hand was held out towards Jay keeping him in the sphere, and the other one was gesturing towards Norma, who held out the tissue box.

"Norma, I asked for a tissue, one! Not the entire box!" He exclaimed, and it was then Senel noticed blood streaming from his nose along with a bruise forming on his cheek.

"Well Red probably needed one too! Besides, I didn't think that Teach would like you bleeding all over his floor!" Norma cheerfully replied, one of her hands glowing yellow and holding it against her stomach which had a footprint scuffed over it.

"You say that like I'm dying or something!" The blond frowned as Norma offered the box to Moses, who had bruises marking his chest in more than a few spots. It seemed he had taken the most from Jay's tantrum.

Chloe rolled her eyes from where she was standing. "Well with how often _that_ happens…" She mumbled under her breath, and this time Senel did laugh when the blond shot her a withering glare. It was nowhere as intimidating as he would want, considering the tissue shoved against his bloody nose. She looked back at Will through the door and asked, "Raynard, do you have a spare room Jay can stay until he gets better?"

Will nodded and the knight noticed the amused smile lingering on his face. "Sure thing, follow me."

The tall man walked out towards the entrance of the room and finally caught sight of the ninja. Jay glared at the group and tried to call out to Will, but silence was all that was heard on his end. "…you trapped him in that sphere?"

"I assume you heard what happened. It was the only way the brat would stay still." Walter said testily, holding a tissue against his nose and keeping his eyes on the sphere to prevent his concentration from wavering.

Will looked over at his broken picture frame and the knocked over plant with a frown. "Yes, I can tell what happened in here…"

"In most circumstances I'd apologize for my actions, but this brat round-house kicked me in the face. I'm not too prone to anyone who gives me a bloody nose…" Walter glared icily at the trapped eren, who returned the look.

Moses held up a finger. "I, however, found that funny." The Ferines turned his death glare towards the redhead, who simply grinned in return.

After the teen had been dumped into a spare room upstairs, the others mingled in the study while the others were healed by Norma and Shirley. After a while, the other four members joined the others in the study and gathered around the room. One major difference from the night before was most of the books had been re-shelved save for the more relevant ones. Another difference was that nearly all ofthe tables had a book or a small stack of notes on top of them. Third was that Will was beginning to show bags under his eyes.

"Hey Teach, you're lookin' kinda tired. Ya stay up all night or somethin'?" Moses asked, rubbing at one of the bruises Norma recently healed.

The taller man nodded and took off his glasses to rub at his eyes, "No, but I had stayed up to look for some relevant material and make a few notes."

Chloe looked at the large stack of written notes near one of the books, bullet points hastily written on the pages on top and underneath. "Only a few notes, hmm…?" He simply shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

"Well, did you find anything new last night?" Norma asked lightly, her fingers brushing against a table's edge. She picked up a stack of papers and paged through them, noticing different runic shapes scribbled on them.

Will nodded and leaned over to pluck a book off the top of a stack on his deck. "Well, I discovered a variety of things from these different volumes. Really, this ancient language seems more mythological than historic in most of the books I've read from. It's fascinating, really!" He flipped through the battered volume, and got to the place he was looking for. Inside the pages was a piece of paper with fine markings inked onto it, as if the user spent a lot of time making sure they were exact.

He held the book out for the others to see. "These runes seem to have a few different varieties, all from different time periods of when they were used, dating as far back as two thousand years ago."

"So around the time of the Cataclysm." Shirley spoke up.

He nodded, "Exactly. More runes were added as time went by and the language changed, though most of them are the same fashion of vertical and diagonal lines. By the looks of these however, we can guess they used the more ancient variety of runes, which we'll refer to as 'Elder Runes'."

Senel looked over the sheet and noticed they were grouped in different areas. The oldest date had the smallest amount, while the others were gradually larger until they had twenty- six symbols, just like the alphabet. "So, you created an alphabet?"

"Well… no. Those were the most I could find of those symbols, so one or two may be missing. But, the majority of them are there." Will admitted, pausing for a moment afterwards. "Hold on, I discovered something else along with that." He quickly unearthed a sheet from under one of the books in the table, covered with all sorts of other pages of notes. "Where is it…? A-ha!" He pulled out a sheet and held it out for the others to see.

"I also found out why the central symbol on the relic looked so strange. It is actually a combination of two or three different symbols! If I'm correct, it is a combination of these two characters." He pointed at two symbols, one similar to an upside- down 'J' and the other an 'M' with a cross in the center.

"Huh, they do match up." Norma said, her eyebrows rising in surprise.

Will's eyes lit up, almost as if he was going into his 'historian' mode. "Yes, they do! And that's not all! I also found the other three symbols on the relic in the Elder Runic alphabet, meaning they all really were in the same time period as the relic! So, we can only logically guess our answers are from the Elder Runes!" He was so excited he was nearly vibrating in place, a large smile on his face.

Walter resisted taking a step back from the… slightly obsessive man and spoke up hesitantly, "Erm… So, do you have any idea what they mean?"

Will's excitement faded somewhat as he shook his head, but he remained optimistic, "Sadly, no. I've only found most of the symbols and the time periods they came from, but my sources are very small about their definition and translation. My guess is, they are similar to Relares in that one symbol could mean a lot of things. A rune for water could also mean tranquility, for instance."

Norma looked over the writings, "Well, couldn't we figure out what they are from the different carvings they came from?"

"Well… that's the problem. There are very few writings that have survived from that era thousands of years ago. I've had to try and resort to figuring out the latter alphabets first, since they're fairly similar. It still isn't easy though, so I've had to wait to try that today." Will replied, gesturing to the volumes around him. "These were all of the books I found that had images of these runes in them, but I'll need to have Madam Musette's permission to check her library as well."

Senel, Chloe and Moses volunteered to go with Will to pick up some of the volumes from Madam Musette's with Will, just in case they found a large amount of them. This left Shirley, Norma and Walter to puzzle over the three or four groupings of runes.

Norma clapped her hands together, "Alright, so where to start?" She looked over the papers Will left behind with a curious thirst for knowledge.

"Well, our best bet is probably figuring out what the newer ones are based on the excerpts, seeing as there's more of them from the earlier time period than any others. If we can figure those out, then the others will be easier to figure out." Shirley suggested, paging through some of Will's notes and looking for any clues he may have left.

Walter, having stayed silent most of the time, finally spoke up from his place near the entrance, "That would be a good idea, though the runes we should focus the most on are the ones carved on that relic. We could spend weeks trying to decipher this language, but what good is it if we don't know what the most important ones mean?"

The two looked over at him, then to each other. "Good point…" Shirley mumbled.

Norma suddenly straightened up and pointed at the sheet with the alphabet on it. "Alrighty then! First things first, let's figure out what that central symbol means! If we can decipher that, then we can guess what the relic does because of the Relares already on it." She announced loudly.

The two Ferines nodded at her logic. "Seems like a good idea."

"Okay, now to decipher this language! Chaaarge!" Norma cheered, leaping up and pumping her fist into the air with a grin.

Shirley smiled and raised a hand of her own, "Charge~!"

The girls waited for a moment and looked at Walter expectantly. He looked at them with his crossed arms, and then rolled his eyes. "Chaaarge…" He raised his own fist unenthusiastically.

Norma frowned and placed her hands on her hips, giving the blond a disappointed look. "Oh come on, you can cheer better than that!"

Walter gave her a deadpan expression, noticing Shirley giving him the same hopeful look. "…You're really going to make me say it, aren't you?" The girls nodded with a smile, and he sighed in defeat. Taking a deep breath, he loudly cheered, "Chaaarge!" From the grin on Norma's face he guessed that had worked. "Better?"

The two girls nodded. "Much better, Wally! Now, let's get to work!" Norma cheerfully complimented, turning to look through the books with a blush after he smiled at her. Shirley glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, but shrugged it off as they began reading through the books and comparing different texts.

X X X

This was how the three passed the time that morning; looking through books and comparing different descriptions and carvings with each other. After a while, the symbols just seemed to blur together, and the off-and-on rain pattering against the window outside didn't make it any better.

By the time the clock struck eleven o'clock, the three were practically nose-deep in their books, scattered around the different tables they sat at. Shirley was looking over one of the excepts and copying down the description of it at her table, while Norma was gazing off into space with a couple of runic sentences spread under her fingers on various pieced of paper. Walter was really the only one who hadn't lost as much steam as the others, looking over the piece of paper the relic's carvings were on and comparing them to a book's runes.

After five more minutes passed, Norma's head fell on the table with an audible thump, causing the others to look over at her. "I'm so _booored_!" She complained loudly.

Walter rolled his eyes, "Oh, quit whining already." He marked something off on a piece of paper beside him, and picked up another book nearby to look through.

"But we're getting nowhere with this! I mean, have you guys found anything new yet? Or any inkling at all of what this stuff is supposed to mean?" Norma exclaimed, gesturing to all of the papers around them.

Shirley set down her pen and shook her head. "Not really… Some of the runes are upside-down in some of these drawings, but nothing else."

Norma looked over at Walter and shrugged, "See? Nada… What about you?"

Walter eventually shook his head and rubbed at his eyes. "Not much. I've narrowed one of the symbols down to a few different meanings, but I can't do much else without comparing it to everything else."

Shirley looked over at Norma with a sympathetic expression, "Is this the sort of thing you dealt with when you were trying to learn Relares?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Although it was easier because I had a basic translation for a few of them, I didn't have any reference material to test my theories on. Plus, my master helped me a lot when I was first learning it." She sighed. "These are so similar and different all at the same time, it sucks!" Her head hit the table again and an aggravated growl came from her, muffled by the pages. "I'm gonna be seeing runes and squiggles in my sleep tonight…"

Walter turned back to the books he was looking through, flipping through a few pages. "If you're so tired, then take a break. Just go on a walk, have some lunch, go see what's Will and the others are up to, I don't know. I'll hold down the fort here." He didn't hear any response from her, and turned to see Norma gazing back with a light smile gracing her face. He blinked at the intense look she gave him, "…What?"

Norma kept gazing at him with that little smile of hers, then seemed to jolt out of a trance. She shook her head and stood up to stretch her arms. "You're really sweet, Wally. I might as well go and grab some lunch for us."

The blond turned back towards his book, his cheeks tined red at her compliment. "Whatever you say, Norma…"

Shirley glanced between the two roommates with confusion in her eyes. She didn't get a chance to dwell on it when she dragged out of her seat by the chipper brunette. She pulled on her hand and started pulling her out the door with a large grin on her face. "Come on, Shirl; we're gonna go eat!"

The blond at the table lazily waved goodbye at them as the study door closed shut with a click behind them. After a moment, his arm fell back onto the table and his gaze turned back to the book he was reading, not really reading the words. Walter's mind whirred with thoughts and images that had been bothering him for a while, gradually growing more and more frequent for the past few months. All around… Norma.

He looked towards the door, eyebrows furrowed in thought. "She thinks I'm sweet, huh…?" He asked himself, his quiet voice filling the room. His eyes dropped their gaze slightly, and eventually a small smile appeared on his face. He turned back to the books and papers in front of him and returned to his work, the smile never fading from his face.

x x x

The road that lead to the bakery was busier than usual, what with most of the citizens heading into the main square for lunch or their daily errands. Norma trotted down the street with a skip in her step, with Shirley following beside at a more subdued pace. While the clouds still rolled overhead, the rain had stopped a short time ago and left the city drenched with water. The treasure hunter leapt gracefully over a rain puddle, only to stumble on her landing and nearly break the heel of her boot. Norma promptly decided not to jump over any more large puddles less she fall into one. Walter would tease her about it every time it rained after that!

"Ahh, I'm so glad the rain finally stopped! So what're you in the mood for, Shirl? Sandwiches? Pasta? Ditch the healthy food altogether and pig out on pastries and sweets?" She asked the blond next to her, who looked deep in thought as she looked at their surroundings.

Shirley seemed to start out of her thoughts, then looked towards the bakery. "Well, they all sound good actually. We could always have lunch then take pastries with us."

Norma nodded with a grin on her face. "Best of both worlds, I like it! Though I hope we're not sharing sweets with the gang; I've only got enough gald for me and Wally."

The Merines knew that was a little white lie. Norma had a fairly secure amount of gald saved up despite being a bit of a spendthrift, but she also knew Walter and her shared expenses for their room at the inn. Because of this, while the two often bickered about petty little purchases like candy or a bunch of climax bottles they didn't need, Norma always had a fair amount on her. The blond knew the treasure hunter was just being a bit greedy like she always was. At least, unless it came to her roommate, then she seemed to share everything with him.

"Hey Shirl, you in there?" Norma snapped the girl out of her thoughts, waving a hand in front of her face.

The blond nodded quickly. "Ah, yes. Sorry, I was lost in thought. That's alright with me; I think the others were going to eat at Madam Musette's house anyway." Her friend grinned and the two made their way to the bakery.

As packed as the Bakery was, Norma was somehow able to talk Mimi into saving the two girls a table. It was a small one with two chairs, but it was tucked away in a quiet corner next to a window. Perfect for a pair of friends to have lunch and chat about love, life and whatever else. The two waited in line to order (more-so Norma pushed her way into line and ordered for the two of them) and returned to their seats with food in their hands.

Norma immediately dove into her sandwich and looked at the blond with a grin on her face. "So Shirl, how're things with the hubbie?"

Shirley nearly spat out the tea she just drank, and had to cough to get the liquid out of her lungs. "Wh-what are you talking about?!" She gasped out, hand on her chest trying to breathe normally again.

Norma rolled her eyes. "Aw come on, Shirl! I mean Senny, of course! How's the whole situation between you, Senny and C going? Has he made any moves on you two yet?"

Shirley shook her head, not offended she included Chloe in the equation. Honestly, in the beginning she was hurt that Norma was trying to match up Chloe and Senel together. But because of what happened with Alcott in the Forest of No Return, the knight had considered that door closed for good, and told her as much. After what happened with Schwartz, Chloe confided in her saying that Senel might have been showing the same semi-romantic feelings towards her that he'd shown to Shirley. So it had seemed that Senel had just as many problems choosing between the two woman that they thought.

"Well, not really. Honestly, he's much more affectionate than before, but he hasn't… done anything yet." Shirley finally said with a slight frown on her face, taking a bite of her sandwich.

Norma had downed half of her food already, swallowing a painfully large bite before continuing. "Well, if he isn't gonna do anything they you two have to go on the attack! Plan a night out! Nice dinner, candles, moonlit walk on the beach, go back to his house, the works! He'll have to figure out what you two want by then, and you'll be swapping spit in no time!" The Ferines' face grew bright red at the mental images running laps through her mind.

The brunette paused for a long moment, leaning back in her seat and rubbed the back of her neck. "At least, that's what Sven would say… I'm not the master on romance so all this talk is me winging it." She forced away a blush that accompanied the mental image in her head.

Shirley's eyebrow rose at her blush, thinking back to all the other interactions she's had with her roommate. She's had a feeling there was… something there, more than the two just being best friends and living together ever since Schwartz had first shown her face. Although she had seen actual proof lately, what with the longing gazes that the treasure hunter sent her friend.

Shirley swallowed the bite of sandwich in her mouth before giving the treasure hunter a serious look. "Norma…? Can I ask you a question and get an honest answer back?"

The brunette gave her a surprised look. "Of course! Just so long as you aren't asking me to be part of your threesome I'm game."

Shirley blinked rapidly for a moment, almost recoiling from the rather graphic mental images running through her mind. She shook her head and pushed through her heavy blush to ask, "Do you like Walter?"

This time Norma was drinking her soda, and prevented herself from spitting the syrupy drink all over her friend by inhaling it instead. She coughed and hacked until her lungs were clear and shot a red-faced and watery-eyed look at her friend. "Wh-what kinda question is that?!" She coughed a few more times for good measure then chugged the rest of her drink.

"Uhm… Well yeah, I guess. Of course I do. I wouldn't be able to live with the guy if I hated his guts. He's my best friend!" She narrowly dodged the question with ease while still answering honestly. Did… did Shirley really see through her and noticed she had a crush on her friend?

"Well, yes… But I meant as _more_ than that. In the same way that Chloe and I see Senel." Shirley had noticed, damn it!

Norma's cheeks flooded with color as she thought of the blond, remembering one of the times he looked at her with a rare smile with made his eyes lighten. "Erm…" Norma stuttered, trying to get her tongue to cooperate. "Well… uh… In what way do you mean, like-like? I mean, there's lots of ways to interpret the question, he he…" Ohh, she was so screwed if the question ever came up with Walter!

Shirley's eyes widened. "Oh my… You do? Really? For how long?" The blond nearly babbled, feeling a small bubble of giddy excitement rising in her chest. Was this what it was like for Norma teasing her about Senel? If it was then she could easily get used to the feeling.

The treasure hunter groaned pushing her plate aside to prop her arms on the table and hide her face in them. She felt embarrassed, no… mortified! Oh, Norma had really, _really_ hoped her secret stayed that way, but unfortunately secrets were not the sort to be kept. "Oh Shirl, please don't tell anyone! I'll die if anyone else finds out!" She wailed through her sleeves, feeling her ears burn.

The Merines pushed aside her plate and reached over to touch the girl's arm. "Don't worry Norma, your secret is safe with me."

Norma sniffled and looked up at the blond, a miserable look on her face. "R… really?" She asked hopefully. She nodded and that seemed to relax the girl enough to push herself back against her seat, rubbing at her eyes.

Shirley tilted her head slightly. "So, how long?"

"I don't even remember… He's pretty much been my best friend since the whole thing with the Everlight." Norma mumbled, remembering that day and a few of the memories after she had woken up. "Someone giving up their life to save yours kinda puts them on your brownie list."

"Well, I think we all know that, Norma. You really don't know?" The blond asked.

Norma looked out the window deep in her thoughts. "Well… Funnily enough, I always thought he was cute since I first saw the guy, though his personality was really… off-putting at best. He was an unrepentant arrogant jerk at worse. …I guess over time I forgot about his finer points until after Schwartz appeared. When he…" She had to swallow hard before speaking again. "When he died, I guess I realized just how much he meant to me. Before I met you guys my master was the most important figure in my life, and I was inconsolable after he died. When Wally woke up, I felt like a piece of me came back."

Shirley nodded, remembering the similar emotions she felt after losing her sister for the second time. "What about after that?" She asked, hoping the brunette would continue.

"Well after that we were just the best of friends. I didn't really think about becoming more than that." Norma shrugged. "Though I think the first time I realized was after I left the Legacy, actually. When I was at the University, I couldn't sleep. Like, at all. I always felt that emptiness in my room. And there were a bunch of times I'd heard something funny and wanted to tell him at lunch, but remembered I was on the mainland. It just felt like something was missing."

Shirley's head tilted sideways. "But that just sounds like you missed him more than anything else though…"

"Well, I did, but that wasn't what made me think about him that way. He… I don't know but it was like I found my other half again, or something. Now I've got butterflies in my stomach and I can't be in the same room as him without thinking about all this crud or random situations where we kiss—er, stuff happens!"

Her cheeks flushed a deep red and she shook her head. "I-I mean… Let's be honest, he is friggin' hot stuff! It's all I can do to not stare at him all the time and I know he must have noticed and I don't know what he thinks about me. …Oh god, what if he already knows? Oh no, oh no, I am so screwed!" She rambled, her face becoming more and more red until even her ears were a bright pink.

Shirley took a long swallow of her drink and looked across the table at her. "Now you know how I felt." She replied lightly, looking out the window for a moment.

"For crap's sake, I can play matchmaker for others but I'm _horrible_ with romance about myself! Flirting is easy, but I can't do that with someone I already know, someone I live with!" Norma whined, covering her face with her hands. "God, my life sucks!"

The Merines gave her a stern look, looking every part the leader of the Ferines. "Norma, you are not helping yourself by just complaining or keeping everything to yourself. You'll feel a lot better if you just tell him." The treasure hunter gave her a wide-eyed look of horror, and the blond continued. "You won't feel any better until you get it off your chest, so just take him aside one day and tell him. At least all of the tension going on between you two will stop."

"You… noticed that?" She asked meekly, sitting up in her chair.

"Norma, I think _everyone's_ noticed something going on between you two except for him. Really, the two of you can be oblivious sometimes…" Shirley shook her head and looked at the clock on the wall, looking more like her normal quiet self. "We've been gone for over an hour; we should go find the others soon before they worry."

Norma nodded, and after the two exited the bakery after Norma grabbed a few snacks for her and her roommate. As the two walked across one of the bridges near Senel's house she pulled the blond aside, a scared look on her face. "You… really think I should? What if…?"

Shirley shook her head. "You're Walter's best friend. He may be blunt but you know he wouldn't purposely embarrass you about this. If nothing else, he would appreciate your honesty. Not to mention you'll get it off your chest and we can focus on finding out more about that relic." The treasure hunter nodded faintly, a small bud of bravery blooming in her chest. For the shy damsel-in-distress Shirley used to be, she had grown into her role of wise and cool-headed Merines well.

The two girls walked back to Madam Musette's large mansion, the sprawling garden and lawn dotted with dew and early spring flowers. The blond led the way up the brick walkway to the door, heels clacking loudly against the stone. Shirley used the knocker and clacked it against the wood a few times before stepping back and patiently waiting for Rose to answer the door.

After a few seconds, Norma and Shirley heard footsteps approach the door, and it opened slowly to reveal Musette's maid. She had large glasses and deep red hair tied back into a braid. She shyly looked out, "W-who's there?" She noticed Shirley and Norma standing outside the door, and perked up considerably. "Oh, Miss Fennes, Miss Beatty! Please, come in!"

"Thank you, Rose." Shirley thanked the maid as she held the door open for them. As they walked into the large room with the curving staircase to the upstairs, Norma suddenly remembered the first time she had set foot in this house. Her mind flooded with memories of when a hurricane had hit Werites Beacon, and when she had managed to drag herself and a weary Walter inside. It was also where they had become friends, and Shirley had found out about Walter after discovering the two of them unconscious.

"Norma?" Shirley asked, noticing her brunette friend was staring off into space.

The treasure hunter snapped out of it, and looked over at Shirley, "Eh…? Oh sorry about that, I was just lost in thought." She turned to Rose and asked, "Hey, do you know where Teach and the others are?"

Rose jumped from the loud volume of Norma's voice, and nodded quickly, "Y-yes, they're in the library. Follow me." She quickly led the two girls upstairs and towards a familiar-looking room. Inside the sizeable library, they saw a few books lying on an end table next to the door. Moses looked through one of them from where he lounged on a chair, chin propped up on his hand and an uninterested expression on his face. Nearby, Senel and Chloe were pulling off books from part of the shelf one by one, flipping through the contents quickly before shelving them and moving on to another volume. Will was sitting in one of the chairs nearby, speaking to Madam Musette in a very comfortable-looking reading chair.

Moses noticed them and waved, excited to have something else to talk about other than books. "Well howdy Bubbles, Shirley!"

Norma grinned, at the group when the rest of them turned to look at the two new arrivals. "Heya guys, what's up? We thought you all would be back by now."

Senel shrugged, "Sorry about that, we got caught up looking through Madam Musette's library over here. Though it's a little easier, knowing what we're looking for."

Shirley nodded and gave their white-haired leader a smile, "That's alright. Have you found anything new?"

Will shook his head, "I'm afraid not… It is rather difficult looking through her Majesty's library, however. It isn't as catalogued as mine is."

"I'm sorry for the trouble. I've been meaning to organize it a bit better, but I haven't had the time to." Musette continued.

"It's no problem; a little inconvenience doesn't hurt anyone." Chloe replied with a smile before noticing one member was missing. "…Where's Walter? Is he still at Will's house?"

"Yeah, he was holding down the fort for us so we could go and get lunch." Norma smiled.

Musette had a thoughtful expression on her face and asked, "Norma, I haven't seen you in a long time." The girl turned to her, and she continued. "Tell me, how was the mainland?"

She shrugged and gave the same answer she had given the others. "It was alright. Too much studying and not enough hot guys walking around."

Chloe turned to the girl in shock, "Norma!"

The treasure hunter turned to Chloe in confusion. "What? It's true."

"Y-you don't just say something like that to Madam Musette!" She complained, somewhat in shock.

Musette waved away Chloe's complaints. "Oh, leave her be, Miss Valens. I was young too once." The older woman gave a knowing wink to Norma, who just looked confused. "At any rate, have you found what you were looking for in your studies?"

Shirley shook her head, "No, your Eminence… Nothing much has come up…"

"Well, at least you were trying." Will sighed.

Norma thought of something, "Well, Wally did think he had figured out one of those symbols, but needed more reference material and time to figure it out. Knowing him, he'll have it figured out by tonight."

"Well, that's a good thing." Senel replied.

Will was about to speak, but was interrupted by a large yawn from the redhead at the table. "Well I dunno about the rest of y'all, but I'm willing to bet Jay ain't too happy about being cooped up in one of your upstairs rooms."

Norma nodded in agreement and Musette looked to Will in curiosity, "Why is Jay trapped in your house, Will?" Her tone of voice was curious and amused, her lips quirked into a smile. Her comment caused the man to hold his head in his hands, his face flushed in embarrassment.

Before he could speak however, Shirley explained what happened. "Well, Jay caught a cold last night. Even with that, he still wanted to help. When we told him to rest and focus on getting better, he refused. So we tried pushing him up the stairs and…"

"He fought back." Chloe finished, her lips curved into an amused smile.

Madam Musette had a delicate hand to her lips as she laughed lightly. "Oh my, that sounds like quite the sight."

Moses pointed at his nose. "Heck, he even popped Wally in the nose! If I weren't hurtin' myself I'd have laughed my ass off!" Will glared at him for his language, even as Musette laughed. He threw up his hands in defeat and just gave up on correcting their language.

Norma finished off the little event for them. "Finally, C and Red tried restraining him so he wouldn't hurt us anymore, and Wally used his little bubble trap thingamajig to capture him and take him upstairs."

"Well, that's quite the tale. It must have been amusing to take part in, if a bit painful." Musette answered with a slight smile.

Suddenly, the group heard the sounds of rapid knocking on the door downstairs. Rose excused herself and quickly trotted downstairs to open the door. The visitor at the door turned out to be a uniformed guard of the town, and he spoke in quick hushed tones that echoed up the stairs. The only words the others could catch were Madam Musette's name and urgent. Then he handed something to the maid and rushed away as quickly as he came.

The group heard the maid's heels click quietly against the carpeted stairway and down the hallway back to the library's entrance. Rose looked nervous, holding a thick envelope embossed with Rexalia's royal crest in her fingers. "Uhm, Madam? A m-messenger came with a letter for you. He s-said it was urgent that you read it as soon as possible." She stuttered quickly.

Madam Musette nodded, "Ah, thank you, Rose." She accepted the letter and peered quickly at the address. She turned to Will and the others. "Will, may I have some privacy as I read this letter?"

Will nodded, "Yes, of course your Majesty." He looked to the others who understood, and they filed out of the room one by one. The group leaned against the wall or sat on the large stairway, waiting patiently for the Werites Beacon's mayor to finish reading her letter.

After around five minutes of waiting, perhaps longer, the older woman opened the door of the library. Her back was straight, her face uncharacteristically serious, and in her eyes was the firm look of a leader. It was then one realized she was the Holy Sovereign of the Kingdom of Rexalia for a reason. She turned towards Will and asked, "Will, would you please find Curtis and Isabella for me? Werites Beacon is in danger and needs to mobilize its militia."

Confused, alarmed but still under orders, Will saluted quickly to her, "Yes, your Excellency." He turned to the others. "I'll meet you all at my house later; go there and wait for me." Without another word, he bolted down the stairs and out the door, the front door shoved shut with a slam.

Norma looked at Madam Musette with worry in her eyes. "Mobilizing Werites Beacon's militia!? Why are we doing that; what's going on!?" She gasped in confusion.

"Because…" Madam Musette began, her eyes narrowed slightly. "The Kingdom of Gadoria has delivered Rexalia a declaration of war, and without the help of its navy the Legacy is an open target."

X X X __

 _Eh, wasn't as much a fan of the scene between Norma and Shirley, but I'm still one of the few who likes Shirley. She's whiny at times yeah but she gets better as the story goes on, and I have a feeling she would become decent friends with Norma and Chloe. Plus, I love submitting Shirley-haters to reading her as a well-rounded character, bwa ha ha ha!_

 _Hoo boy though! Things are starting to really heat up! If nothing else, the plot is advancing more quickly in this story than Glitter in the Air did (I know some of you readers complained).Or somewhat, considering that this chapter was originally supposed to be the last half of chapter three. It hopefully makes up for the long time between updates!_

 _The runes Will showed them are based off of Nordic Futhark, mainly Anglo Saxon Elder Futhark. They're very similar to Relares in that each symbol could be represented as a letter and they had multiple meanings. They also had special cases where if they were shown upside down, they meant the opposite; similar to if someone used the 'Xe' sign in Relares before another character, transforming the second character into the opposite meaning. …Yes, it used to be a hobby of mine researching and trying to decipher Nordic runes. Relares really isn't much different._

 _And finally, the scene with Jay and the others on the stairway was one of the scenes my brother (also my old beta reader) thought up after a night of video games. Praise him for the hilarity!_


	7. Blindsided

_Okay, new chapter! Sorry it's late; personal issues led to this being a day late. Anyways, this one's important and has TONS of foreshadowing in it, so if you readers are observant then you'll notice things that come into play later. I'm really not all that subtle when it comes to this stuff, eh heh… Either way, I hope you all forgive how this one is broken up; it was giving me a bit of grief writing it and I just said heck with it. Hope you all enjoy!_

x x x

Chapter 7: Blindsided

x x x

Werites Beacon swarmed with activity that evening after its mayor received the news. Her two second-in-commands Curtis and Isabella had arrived not minutes after the others left for Will's house. Madam Musette filled them in, and the two began their task of going to every citizen's house. They made sure everyone was properly armed and alert, and then went back to what seemed like their normal routine.

After the group informed Walter and a still sickly Jay (who finally swallowed his pride and had gotten some sleep) the news, the two went to the villages of the Ferines and Oresoren to alert them to the news and to stay sharp. Though Maurits was uneasy and wished Walter would help defend the village, he knew the blond was more needed in the town and wouldn't leave them in their time of need. Though the village elder did drag a promise out of the blond to make sure Shirley stayed safe.

Jay came back shortly after Moses did, who had Csaba keep an eye out on Port on Rage and the Misty Mountains, in case Gadorian forces came from those directions. The others stuck it out at the house until Will had gotten back. Chloe was nervous and even a touch fearful as she paced back and forth. She was a knight of Gadoria; what would happen if she was taken in as a spy by Rexalia? Senel and Shirley tried to calm the woman, but she hadn't relaxed for one moment since Madam Musette had shared the news.

While the others waited around the house for Will's return, Norma sat in a corner of his library, leaning against one of the flat walls with her knees propped up to her chest. She loosely held the relic in her fingers; the clay-colored stone ball with blurred carvings seemed perfectly harmless. Her gaze trailed over the blurred runes carved onto the stone ball, and she bit her lip in nervousness. _Had all of this started because she brought the relic to the Legacy? Put all of her friends in danger, and possibly have them resigned to some worse fate than just being in a war?_ All of these questions and thoughts stirred through her mind, and it seemed to make the waiting worse.

Norma heard the distant sound of the front door closing shut, which caused her head to perk up in curiosity. She heard muffled voices, but none of them sounded like Teach. With a sigh, she let her head fall back onto her knees, her fingers tightening around the stone ball in her grasp. She heard the echo of footsteps enter the study, too deep a sound to be Chloe or Shirley in their heeled boots. The figure paused, and the sounds got louder as they walked along one of the bookshelves. She heard someone turn the corner, but preferred keeping her eyes on her knees instead of looking up at them.

She heard them sigh quietly, and walk over to sit on the floor next to them, a warm shoulder brushing up against hers. From the slight color of sapphire blue she saw from the corner of her eyes, she knew who it was. "Are you alright, Norma?" Walter asked, and she felt his gaze on her shrouded face.

Norma softly shook her head and looked at him. "…We're at war. How can I be alright?" She responded, her tone forlorn.

She felt his shoulder shrug beside her. "Alright, I should have expected that answer." He leaned back to stare at the ceiling. "We're all stressed now. Chloe's still frantic and Maurits is nervous… Last time something like this happened was with Vaclav, but Gadoria's learned from his mistakes."

"Is it my fault, Wally?" She asked suddenly, her tone fearful and sad. "Is it because I brought the relic here, and endangered all of you, and hurt the old man and the other scholars at the University? …is it?" Her voice was high in pitch, cracking in spots as she felt her eyes begin to burn. She turned her face to her knees, trying to hide her face.

She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and pull her small frame against his side, her cheek pressed against his chest. She felt him inhale a breath to speak again. "No, it isn't… You're just a girl who knows a lot about Relares, who got called in to find out what that little stone ball does from her university. How could you have known Gadoria was looking for this insignificant-looking artifact, that they had some weapon of mass destruction at their disposal? That kingdom is power-hungry, and will probably stop at nothing to get it."

Norma was silent for a moment, the side of her face pressed against Walter's chest, listening to his heart beat softly. Finally, she looked over at him and uttered, "…Wally, you suck at making someone feel better."

A small chuckle escaped from the Ferines, "Sorry about that. I admittedly don't have that much practice at it."

Norma couldn't help but smile at him, and leaned against his shoulder again, wiggling slightly to make herself more comfortable. "That's okay though. Considering what our… friendship was like earlier on, I wouldn't have you any other way."

She exhaled a deep sigh in content, not noticing the blond's heart beat speed up. He was silent for a long moment, then let his head rest against hers. "…Thanks, Norma." He whispered softly. And the two sat there, leaning against one another and just enjoying each other's calming presence.

After a while, be it a few minutes or an hour, the two heard the front door slam and the blond turned his head to the door to listen in. A collection of voices rose from the rest of their comrades, and they heard a familiar voice quiet them down. "Sounds like Will's back." Walter commented, trying to sit up with the brunette leaning heavily against him.

"I don't wanna move though…" Norma whined, a pout on her face.

The blond rolled his eyes and pulled her to her feet anyway. "Oh come on, this is important."

Norma rubbed at one of her eyes as if she had been asleep, which would explain why she had been leaning on him so heavily. "Your shoulder's comfy."

Walter didn't have a reply to her comment, and stared at her for a puzzled moment. He shook his head and had her pick up the relic and shove it back into her bag for safe-keeping. The two left the study and walked into the other room, noticing the other members of the Fun Bunch already laying on couches and sitting in chairs as Will spoke.

"…And we don't know any details about…" He noticed the two entering and waved at them briefly.

Norma nodded dozily and leaned against one of the couches, "So, what's up?"

Will gestured to the group, "Well, I was explaining what we knew so far about the situation." The taller man looked over at Shirley, who nodded and took over for him.

"The day the University was attacked was around four days ago, which we found out about via Norma's letter. The day after, Gadoria issued a declaration of war on Rexalia without any previous violence or tension between the countries. We've no idea why the sudden cut in ties, but most of Gadoria's forces are now on Rexalia's doorstep. Rexalia is, of course, concerned about the defense of their country, so we won't be able to get any reinforcements from them for defending the Legacy." Shirley started.

"Ain't the Legacy supposed to be owned by nobody though?" Moses asked, not up to date on the politics of the mainland.

Will explained, "Technically, the Legacy isn't a country thus it's completely neutral. However, after the war between Gadoria and Crusand, it was put under the unofficial protection of Rexalia. It is a sort of mixing pot for people, but its main purpose is a refuge for the Ferines. Though because of the war, the protection Rexalia could provide isn't there because they are defending their own borders."

"Essentially… we're a fish in a barrel." Jay commented hoarsely, sitting in an armchair with a blanket wrapped around himself. Compared to earlier today, he seemed to look even more tired, though his fever had broken in his nap from earlier. A few more days and he would be back to normal.

Senel continued where Shirley had left off, "To make matters worse, Rexalia's navy had caught a number of ships circling around the coastline near the border sailing in our direction. They've intercepted a few of them, but one or two large battleships are still missing."

Walter paled, having seen one or two of those massive ships when he had been spying for Maurits, "Oh no…" He said aloud, causing Norma to look over at him, then back to Will with a worried look in her eyes.

Moses looked over at the oldest member of their group as well with a curious look in his good eye. "A few battleships can't take down the Legacy though, so what's the big deal with 'em?"

"The 'big deal' is that each of those battleships can carry upwards of five hundred soldiers. Not to mention they all are practically an unmatched force on the sea, save for the Holy Alliance Marines." Chloe responded, her eyes wide.

"So, why can't we just send some of them out to help us?" Norma asked, feeling dread pool in her belly as she listened to the conversation.

"The Holy Kingdom of Rexalia needs their marines to defend their coastlines and the civilian merchant ships going to and from the Legacy. As powerful as Rexalia is, their main military is their navy and they can't afford to lose it, and the Legacy isn't self-sustaining enough to do without those supplies." Jay answered, pausing to clear his throat a few times.

Norma slumped in place, "Well… crud. What do we know about these battleships then? Are they gonna strike us, or do a 180 and go after Rexalia?"

Will shook his head slightly, "Unfortunately, we don't have very much information on them. Senel only really knows about the ships that belong to Rexalia, and Gadoria has different types than the ones Rexalia use."

Chloe nodded in agreement, "I don't even know that much, since I lived more inland and my family consisted of knights, not marines or soldiers. They're large though, with enough firepower to take out this town if they got close enough to use their cannons."

Walter spoke up. "Back when I was still a spy working for Maurits, I found a few of the blueprints for these experimental prototypes they were beginning to build a few years ago. It's been long enough that they might be the ones they're using." The group turned to stare at the blond, who shifted in place. "…Well, you didn't ask." He replied, looking over at the window briefly.

"Do you still remember the basic layout of them?" Jay asked suddenly, curious of what he knew.

The blond shook his head, "Not enough to build a defense on. I just remember that they had top-class engines and most of the controls were stationed in the bridge near the top of the ship. Maurits may still have the information I gave him, but the schematics are a few years old and might not be current anymore."

Shirley looked at the others, "So if these are the 'prototypes' Walter spoke of and had powerful engines, we can guess they would be as fast as the Rexalian ships."

"Senel, exactly how fast are the ships belonging to the Alliance Marines?" Will asked the white-haired eren.

Senel crossed his arms in thought, staring down for a moment. "If they were to depart from Rexalia and travel here, it would take roughly a day and a half. With Gadoria having to travel around the continent…" He paused as quick calculations ran through his mind. "They'd be able to reach the Legacy in two days, but that is if they went at their fastest speed. Even then, the ship would have to be nearly empty to achieve that sort of speed."

Jay crossed his arms in thought, "With the sort of technology Gadoria apparently has, they could easily evade all but the fastest of Rexalia's navy. However, since we can guess that they have numerous soldiers and weapons aboard, my guess for their total travel time is just over three days."

"That means they're probably gonna be here by now!" Moses exclaimed.

Norma shifted in place, her face revealing her fear, "Oh, this is my entire fault…!"

Shirley shook her head and turned to stare her down, "No, it's not. You were as caught up in this as we were."

"Besides, if you had left the artifact at the University, Gadoria would have had it by now." Chloe pointed out, which did not calm the girl as much as she hoped.

Norma nodded slightly, her hands holding her bag in front of her protectively, the relic tucked away safely inside the bag. "I guess…"

Moses shrugged and looked over at the others. "This still ain't solvin' our big problem though. We've still got Gadoria breathin' down our necks, and no real plan to deal with 'em."

"I'm assuming we have a plan of action?" Walter asked.

Will nodded, "Yes. We're going to safely assume that Gadoria has already arrived and will try to get the relic at all costs. So, Werites Beacon will be our main tower of defense. We already have the town's militia ready to act, along with the Oresoren and the bandit caravan nearby in case things get a bit hairy."

Moses nodded, "Yeppers. My boys have the port and Misty Mountains covered in case they try an' come in from that way."

Jay nodded, "The Oresoren will be watching the northern coastlines and the Bridge. If Gadoria brings their ships along the coast there, we'll know about it."

"I already spoke with Maurits about the coast near the village and the Mirage Palace. He'll have a few sets of eyes watching the areas around there, even if he won't really be able to help us if a fight breaks out." Walter finished.

Chloe looked at all of the others and had a hand resting upon the hilt of her sword, hesitating for a moment before speaking. "I just… I want you all to know something. Gadoria may be my homeland and the resting place of my parents, but… this is my home now, and I consider you all my closest friends and allies. I'll defend my home and all of you with my final breath!" Her trembling fingers told any who looked that her oath had taken a lot out of her, but her determined eyes spoke of her loyalty.

Senel walked over to her and clapped a hand on her shoulder, giving the knight a smile. "Hey, it won't have to come to that, Chloe."

Moses nodded, "Yeah, we've all got your back!"

She looked at the other members of the Fun Bunch who continued to give her encouraging smiles and comments. The knight's lips quirked upwards into a small smile chased away some of her fears. "Thank you, all of you…"

Senel smile grew warmer, "Hey, what are friends for?"

"Yeah! Ain't no one gonna mess with our friendly neighborhood knight! An' if that one guy comes around trying to cause trouble for Chloe again, he'll get one hell o'va wakeup call from the rest of us!" Moses boasted, a massive grin on his face.

Shirley's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, and she turned to the knight. "…Someone caused trouble for you?" You could almost hear the question in her voice, as she racked her brain for such an event.

Jay cleared up her confusion after clearing his throat. "After we escaped from the Alter of the Sea following the Rite of Accession, Chloe was nearly arrested by the Captain of the Gadorian knights and a few of his sold—"

"That man is still _alive!?_ " One or two of the Fun Bunch jumped at the loud exclamation by Walter. They almost turned in unison to stare at the blond who interrupted the had suddenly grown tense with anger and a fire of rage was lit in his eyes. A flicker of violet edged around his fingertips as they clenched together in a white-knuckled fist.

Norma blinked quickly, her eyes somewhat worried. "…You ok, Wally?"

Walter seemed to remember himself at the sound of his name, and let himself calm enough that the eres around his fingers vanished. "…Fine." He finally responded through clenched teeth, averting his gaze towards the window, flickers of anger still lingering in his eyes.

The blond waved an arm to motion for Jay to continue, who just raised his eyebrow in utter confusion. "Okay…" He stretched the syllables as he let his skepticism fully known to all before continuing. "…Anyway, Chloe along with Senel were almost arrested for treason, for stopping the captain from doing any more harm during the Rite of A session. According to these three…" He pointed to Senel, Chloe and Norma. "The knights ended up being taught a lesson by the Bantam Bouncers along with Quppo, Pippo and Poppo. Apparently, it was quite a sight, seeing them run off practically crying.

Shirley felt laugher bubbling up from her chest, and couldn't hold it in. "I bet that was pretty funny!" She giggled.

"Well, at least there's a little humor to go around." Will remarked.

The Merines nodded and cocked her head at Senel, "It makes me wonder what other sorts of things happened while I was away…"

Senel rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "A lot of things, but I'll tell you later. It's starting to get late now and we need to keep on our toes from now on."

Moses turned to look over at white-haired eren, "Hey, ya mind if I crash at your place until this whole thing settles down?" The white-haired man shrugged, which was a yes in the bandit's eyes. Jay seemed to frown, and the bandit caught it, looking over at him with a pout. "What, are ya gonna complain?"

He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. "No, I'm just thinking that I came down with a cold at the worst possible time. My brain's all muddled when I could be helping with battle strategies or translating those runes."

The bandit crossed his arms. "Ah, gotcha. I know what ya mean; colds and the flu can suck an eggbear's butt for all I care."

Chloe let out a strangled sound of offense and Norma snorted. "Nice one, Red."

After that, the rest of the team gradually said their goodbyes and left for their houses; Jay stayed in Will's spare room and Moses bunked on Senel's house. Chloe remained at the hospital, Shirley stayed at Madam Musette's and the two roommates stayed at their room in the inn. Should something happen at the front gates, then Walter and Norma would be the first to know.

As the blond and the brunette walked back to the inn, Norma had noticed that her Ferines friend had been quietly seething since they left Will's house. Even sooner, in fact; after his angered interruption, he hadn't spoken a single word. As the two turned the corner at the crossroads between the inn and the fountain, Norma let out a quiet sign and gently tugged on the blond's sleeve. He slowed and turned his head in curiosity. "Ok, what's wrong, Wally? You've been like this ever since we left Teach's house and even before that."

Before the blond could even try to deny her accusation, she crossed her arms and continued, "And don't gimmie that 'I'm fine' crud; I can tell you're royally pissed off about something. For one, you look like you want to tear someone's head off."

After a moment, the blond snorted, "I do." She gave him a puzzled look and a raised eyebrow. The blond turned to look at her dead in the eyes, his own lit with the same anger from earlier. "How could you let that bastard go scot-free like that?"

Norma took a startled step back at the quiet rage in his voice before putting her hands up in a calming motion. "Woah, settle down, Wally! He's just another jerk who attacked you guys, but we can't just outright kill him on sight! He ran off with his tail between his legs before we could shove him in a cell, and he hasn't shown his face since then."

Walter's gaze turned frosty and he turned his head to glare at something other than the girl in front of him. "That's more mercy then he deserves." He replied darkly, almost growling.

Norma's hands slowly lowered, worry and confusion filling her eyes. She leaned closer to try and gather some clue about the source of his anger from his expression, but per usual, it didn't reveal anything. "…I don't get it. What'd he do that was so awful he deserves to die for it?" She asked quietly.

The blond's eyes went from arctic to a fiery, loathing expression she recognized back when they were on different sides; before he died the first time and before they had ever become friends. His blue eyes were like chips of ice that held no warmth for anyone or anything.

Walter opened his mouth to angrily retort something, then paused as if he suddenly remembered something. All at once, the tension drained out of his body as he took a slow shuddering breath. A moment later he exhaled and his eyes held nothing but weariness. He kept his gaze away from her as he quietly answered, "Norma… that man killed Fenimore."

Suddenly, it all made perfect sense. Norma's face fell and sympathy echoed through her heart. She looked at him with guilt in her face, not that he could see it from where he was looking. "…Oh," She slowly replied, not knowing anything else to say. What _could_ she say?

There was a long quiet moment, and the treasure hunter saw sadness in Walter's eyes that made her heart clench painfully. "Norma, I still wake up in the middle of the night after… reliving that. Not being able to do anything, not even avenging her."

He trailed off, training his eyes on her for a moment. "…You know that already though. I know I must have woken you up at least once since we've lived together. I've managed to forgive Senel, and I've even become somewhat of a comrade to him. That's something I never thought I'd be able to do, but…" His hands clenched into fists, and he looked away as his eyes began to burn with fury again. "I know if I ever had the chance of seeing _him_ again, I'll kill him."

The blond felt Norma's arms wrap around his chest in a hug, and his gaze softened. "You know…" She began, her forehead pressed against his chest. "I don't think Fen-Fen would mind if you just... forgot about him. She wanted Shirl to be happy, right?" Walter nodded slightly, and she continued. "Well, even if Fen-Fen was a Ferines, she probably wanted Shirl to be happy even if it meant the Cataclysm didn't happen again. I think she'd want you to be happy too… Not to let that day hang over your head for the rest of your life."

Walter's thoughts spun together a memory of that place in between places, where a cloud of feathers surrounded him. Fenimore's hand grabbed onto his, and he heard her final words. _"This is my blessing to you, Walter... Go live your life on your own terms, and no one else's. Go find your happiness!"_ His eyes had opened shortly after that, and he looked at the rest of the team, who'd later become his comrades. Yet, the one person who he had looked to first was a teary-eyed brunette, her fingers lit with her golden eres. The same person he promised to protect.

The Ferines was quiet for a long moment, letting his arms slide around her shoulders and hug her back. "…You're right. She would…" He quietly admitted. And like that, all the angry thoughts surrounding the Gadorian captain seemed to lift from his mind, leaving the blond clear-headed and less tense than before.

Norma felt herself blushing from the close proximity and the sound of his heartbeat against her ear. She finally forced herself to let go of the blond. She smiled up at him before promptly turning towards the inn. "Well, enough of the emotional talk; let's go eat something. I'm starving! C'mon Wally, you're buying!"

She ran off in the direction of the inn, hearing the blond sputter in mild shock and irritation behind her. "H-hey! Buy your own damn food!"

Norma grinned, her brown eyes sparkling. Her blond roommate sounded like he was back to his old self, at least. Now the two could finally relax a little before reality began to set in again the next morning, when they would continue to try and figure out how the runic language worked. And hopefully, the conflict that went along with it was far away at that moment.

Little did they know, the conflict would be coming to them sooner than they expected.

x x x

Deep into the night on the outskirts of town, movement stirred within the forest. A pair of steely grey eyes gazed at the walls of the town from his position among the brush. They belonged to a tall man shrouded in black, his lower face covered with a scarf that trailed over his small shoulders. His fingers were covered by gloves save for his index finger and thumb, and an officer's blade hung from his hip. He turned to peer behind him, where a sizeable number of soldiers and spies just like him crouched hidden in the trees and bushes.

He looked towards the town below them and a slow smile crept across his face. He raised an arm into the air, and the sounds of shifted leaves and creaking branches was heard. The soldiers dropped into formation around him, and they held their ground, watching their leader's arm carefully as their eyes glittered in the dark.

Finally, he let his hand drop down, and the small force silently ran through the woods towards Werites Beacon.

x x x

Back in the town of Werites Beacon in their room at the inn, Walter had suddenly woke with a start. He opened his eyes for a brief moment out of confusion and anxiety. While it wasn't abnormal for the blond to wake in the middle of the night, it was usually because of bad dreams or stress. Tonight he had just been peacefully asleep one moment, and wide awake the next.

His eyes slid shut again, but he feigned sleep as his mind went into overdrive. After being a spy for more than a few years, his instincts sharpened to any danger that may lurk nearby, which had saved his life on more than one occasion. If he had awoken so suddenly from a dead sleep, with his heart pounding and his body screaming at him to wake up... Something was wrong.

Walter fought the urge to look around as he slowed his breathing, listening closely to the different ambient sounds around him. The soft hum of mist falling from the sky, a shifting of blankets as Norma rolled over in her sleep, her very slight breathing as she slept. …There! He heard air whistling through an open window slightly, and heard the very quiet creak of the floorboards near it. Another small creak of the floor told the blond there was someone else there.

The silent footsteps crept past the foot of the bed, and the figure sharply exhaled in surprise. "Hey Clark, you said the girl was alone!" The unknown assailant whispered sharply, his feet turning on the floor.

"She was! This is probably just her boyfriend or something, though kind of weird why they're in different beds..." Another figure whispered from the window.

The blond felt eyes watching him, and fought to keep his breathing level. "…Hey, doesn't this guy look kinda familiar?"

"I don't know; do I look like I give a flying crud? Just get the girl and the relic like Sionn said and let's get out of here before he wakes up!" His partner sharply whispered, impatience flickering in his voice.

Walter felt the eyes leave his frame, and knew this was the time to act. "Too late." He quietly spoke, and flew into action. In one fluid motion, he tore the covers off himself with one hand and swung out with the other, managing to lay a punch in the figure's side. As his eyes tried adjusting to the darkness, he blindly reached for the gasping figure and grabbed a hold of the black scarf around their neck. With a swing, he used the scarf to slam the man face-first into the floor, the loud crack of a nose breaking echoing through the room.

His eyes looked up when he heard the other dark-clothed figure by the window curse loudly, "Aw, crap!" The man reached down for the sword at his side, but didn't succeed in pulling it fully from its sheathe before the blond advanced on him. Before he knew it, the blond's fingers glowed a bright violet and a wave of purple eres blasted the man out the open window towards the grassy ground below.

Walter crouched, his outstretched hand glowing with the violet light of his eres and his other one holding down the unconscious soldier below him. He heard the distant cries of soldiers outside, and he hastily jumped over the man and roughly shook Norma awake. "Norma, wake up!"

"Bwuh…?" The brunette mumbled as her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. Her eyes were squinted as she sat up slightly and rubbed her eyes. "S'up?" She asked slowly, her eyes blinking slowly before noticing the blond's eres were brightly lit.

"There's no time to explain, we're being attacked!" He spoke quickly, and her eyes widened in shock. Suddenly, the two heard yells echoing from the lower window.

"Aw crap, she's an eren!?" One of the soldiers exclaimed.

"We _know_ she's an eren, dumbass! There's another one in there with her!" Another spoke up.

"We've lost our element of surprise! You guys swarm the front while we climb up the window! Move it!" A loud rough-toned man spoke from below, and the two heard footsteps echo around the building.

"Crap!" Walter swore, and ran to grab a bag off the table and quickly pull on a shirt. "Norma, grab your bag and weapon, we have to get out of here!" The girl nodded jerkily and ran to collect her things, wide awake from the adrenaline running through her.

She managed to slip her bag with the relic inside around her shoulder just as the sound of loud footsteps tromped up the stairway. "Ah, they're here!" She grabbed her straw and turned around to run to the window, but saw the head of a soldier just outside it. "Ahhh, they're over there too!" She screamed, too afraid at the moment to think to use her eres.

A large purple blast hit the soldier in the shoulder as he peeked into the room, blasting both him and the figure below him off the wall of the inn. In an instant, Norma felt an arm wrap around her middle and another slide under her knees. She looked back at Walter, whose wings had flashed into view and reflected violet light across the dark room. Behind them, the door was slammed off its hinges and a few soldiers burst through the entryway. The blond ran for the window, steadying her in his arms and leaping off the window sill in a few steps.

Soon they were in the air and the brunette craned her head to see a lot more soldiers at the front. "Wally, there's a ton more goons over by the entrance!" Norma said her head turned towards the front entryway with large eyes.

The blond cursed again and he changed direction to fly towards Will's house; the closest member of the Fun Bunch nearby. Walter hovered near Will's bedroom window and banged on it sharply. "Will, we're under attack! Get your ass out of bed!" He yelled loudly before taking off again.

Not even a minute later, Norma heard the crackling sound of lightning shooting over to a tower with a bell on it; the alert system the militia had decided on. A large bang echoed through the town as the electricity hit it. After a few more bangs, the street was beginning to light up and half-dressed people in pajamas and even a few in their underpants ran into the street, armed to the teeth with swords, axes and other weapons. One chubby man even ran out in his underwear, an apron and a large cast-iron frying pan.

The streets turned into chaos, as the soldiers who had begun running into the town were suddenly besieged by the townsfolk. Yelling and the clashing of steel against steel echoed through the night, even as Walter and Norma flew over the fountain plaza towards Senel's house. He landed on the ground just as their two teammates Senel and Moses burst out of the house with their fingers alight with their eres.

Senel turned towards his two teammates as they landed, his expression worries after the echoes of battle rang out across town. "Walter, Norma, what's going on!?" He yelled in shock.

Norma slipped out of Walter's arms as he quickly explained. "A bunch of soldiers just tried to kidnap Norma, and there were a lot more by the entrance of town. My only guess is they're the forces from Gadoria trying to find the relic!"

Moses gave a firm nod and charged towards the entrance of town with a bellowing warcry. "I'll teach y'all Gadorian bastards to hurt my friends! Yaaargh!"

Walter shook his head briefly at the redhead then turned back to Senel. "Listen, this might just be a distraction since the entire town is going towards the fight at the entrance of town. We need to protect Madam Musette and Shirley as well."

Norma looked over at the entrance, with concern in her eyes. "But what about the others?"

Senel shook his head turned to Norma. "They'll be fine, but Walter's right. Musette's the leader of Rexalia; we'd be in trouble if she became a hostage!"

Norma looked down at her feet, which were bare of shoes. She hadn't the time to slip on her boots before they fled, and her toes were growing numb standing on the cold cobblestone. "But…"

Walter looked at her briefly, then back to Senel, "Senel, go get Chloe and Shirley and get to Musette. The others'll make sure those soldiers don't get any farther into the city. I need to make sure these guys don't find Norma or the relic." The white-haired leader of the Fun Bunch nodded quickly and turned and took off into the night in a dead sprint.

Norma turned to Walter with worry and fears in her brown eyes. "Wait, where are we gonna hide so they don't find us?"

"The last place they would think to look." Walter responded, and he knelt to pick up the brunette in his arms again. His wings flared open once again and the two were soon flying back over the town again. He skirted around the back edge of town before flying up the canals of Falling Water, ducking under a waterfall or two. At the top, he slowly descended near the spring, a tall lamppost casting a golden hue across the grass and water.

The two landed onto the ground, and the blond gently let Norma slide out of his arms. She looked around the spring in confusion. "Lumen Spring…?"

"The soldiers probably think we're still somewhere in Werites Beacon. This place is pretty hidden, and even if someone were to come here we could hide in the treeline. Worse came to worse we could head back to town if something happened." Walter mentioned, rubbing his shoulder and remembering he wore only the blue tunic without his black turtleneck. A chilling breeze whispered through the clearing and tickled the bare skin on his neck and collarbones.

Norma felt the same breeze and it made her shiver. Without shoes or warm clothes, she felt goosebumps rising along her arms in the cold night air. The blond noticed, and scanned the edge of the clearing for an area the wind wasn't blowing through. On the opposite of the spring, the trees began to slope up along the hillside, and a few heavy shrubs blocked the wind along the way. His violet wings popping back into existence made the treasure hunter look up. "It isn't nearly as cold over there across the spring. Come on."

Hesitating just for a moment, Norma nodded her head and let the blond pick her back up again. Using his wings to hover over the ground slightly, he flew over to the other side slightly into the trees, where some brush was hiding the rest of the forest from view. The two touched back down, and they pushed their way through a few thick branches to a small clear spot behind a thick evergreen shrub. The ground was soft with dry pine needles and grass, and it gave the two a good view of the clearing beyond the treeline.

"And now, we wait…" The blond replied, rubbing at his eyes as he settled against an old cedar tree.

Norma nodded, and wrapped her arms around herself. Even on the edge of the forest, where the wind hadn't been able to reach them, it was still chilly. She found herself leaning towards the blond, but not quite touching him.

Walter looked over at her, messy bangs falling out of his face. "Are you cold…?" The treasure hunter nodded, and he spread out an arm in invitation. Immediately, Norma scooted closer and snuggled against his side, letting her head fall onto his shoulder. His arm rested across her shoulders, and he felt the cold air lick at his arms when his sleeves shifted.

Through the thin sleeping shirt she wore she could feel the warmth radiating off him, and it made the goosebumps eventually disappear on her arms. After her shivers subsided and a long silence followed, Norma asked, "So, how long do we have to wait up here?" She felt him shrug slightly, and the girl frowned. She looked at the small round bulge at the bottom of her bag where the relic sat. "…I wish the scholars had never found this thing. I think it'd be better just to throw the thing into the ocean…"

Walter nodded, "Same here, but Gadoria wouldn't know that we got rid of it. They would continue to attack us for something we no longer have."

Norma sighed, "I guess you're right… But I feel so useless right now!"

The blond looked at her for a long moment, and was about to answer her but suddenly tensed. Norma looked over at him, and he turned to stare over at the path descending towards the beach. Suddenly before she could ask why, he quickly shoved them both to the ground, low enough the brush in front of them shrouded them from view. Norma gave him a confused and miffed expression, but he brought a finger to his lips signaling for them to be quiet. She tilted her head to the side, but then heard what he had.

The two listened as the scuffing sound of footsteps approached Lumen Spring from the path to the beach. After a long moment, the small clanging sound of metal on metal echoed as four figures walked into view. There were four men garbed in armor, one of them more elaborate than the others.

The first figure was dressed in ornate plate armor, more ceremonial than practical. His heavily decorated breastplate and pauldrons covered his torso, and his collar was inlaid with what looked like gold leaf. A light chainmail shirt covered his arms, and his boots were shining metal and leather. A long cloak draped down from his shoulders, dark blue embroidered with the gold and red insignia of Gadoria. As he came closer, Norma noticed he was older than the other three, his face strong and greyish brown hair trimmed professionally.

The other three stepped in line behind the first, suggesting he was a high-ranking officer. They wore more practical armor, but still wearing armor as different as their wearers.

The second knight was the shortest of the three, although he looked like the most 'average' knight of them. He wore a heavy breastplate which covered the top part of his chest along with rounded shoulder guards on each arm. He was also the only knight who wore a helm; a steel helmet with a curved inlay along the edges and a Gadorian crest of rank upon his forehead. The helmet was also large enough to cast a shadow over the upper part of his face, casting his eyes into shadow. Upon his hip rested a relatively simple broadsword, but the hilt similar to the one the scholars had sent a sketch to Norma in her letter. Trailing behind him was a cape similar to their leader's, only it stopped around the top of his thighs.

The knight next was tall and lithe, garbed in a light plate mail along his upper torso and shoulders. He wore an expertly crafted tunic under this that trailed behind him like coattails. A short scarf-like cape hung from his shoulder and at his side was a long thin rapier with a jeweled hilt. His appearance was elegant from his angled face, perfectly styled black hair that flared out around his neck and steel-grey eyes.

The last knight was a giant of a man, only wearing heavy greaves, boots and gauntlets as armor. The rest of him was clothed in a light shirt that stretched around his heavily muscled form. Scars clawed their way up his neck to his square face, small dark eyes and coarse brown hair. A single belt across his chest was all that was keeping an enormous claymore attached to his back, the length as long as the average man.

The officer in elaborate armor crossed his arms and looked over his shoulder at one of the other three. "Sionn, are you sure this place is secure?" His voice held a strange accent, like an odd mix of Vaclav and the inn-keeper, Norma thought to herself.

The elegant knight with midnight black hair brought a closed fist to his chest in a salute. "Yes, sir. Our scouts have investigated this area earlier today. We care completely alone." This knight's voice was as smooth as silk compared to the first, and he sounded like a know-it-all.

The older man nodded, "Very good." He turned to the others and gestured towards the town. "Do you hear that, gentleman…?" Over the slight whisper of the trees rustling and the spring bubbling nearby, the knights could the quiet echo of swords clashing and yell of voices from the town.

The largest of the three nodded, thumbs tucked into his belt as he slouched slightly, "Yes sir." His voice _rumbled_.

The grey-haired man smiled, crow's feet creasing at the edges of his eyes. "That my comrades, is the reason why we are here. This is all the master plan to snatch the relic from the hands of these Rexalians… and Radiant." He paced over to look at his wavering reflection in the spring's waters. "If we aquire the artifact and the one who knows how to use it, then our country shall finally become more powerful than the Holy Alliance. We, the honorable Kingdom of Gadoria, the legendary country of knights and heroes!"

The knight with the shrouded eyes underneath his helmet nodded with a slight smile, and Sionn spoke up. "Sir, this is the same town where the heroes of the 'Battle of the Bridge Plain' live, correct?" The general turned to him with an eyebrow raised. "Forgive me if I speak out of place, but... They are powerful warriors, especially if they were able to defeat Vaclav on their lonesome. I worry for our soldiers who've infiltrated the town." He admitted, uneasily shifting to and fro but still not a hair out of place.

Their leader nodded, raising a hand to quiet one of his three subordinates. "At ease, soldier; I understand your worry. However, our soldiers down there are the finest soldiers we could find of the King's personal guard trained in the art of stealth. I assure you, they are perfectly capable of acquiring our target."

"What about the girl, the one who possesses the relic?" The helmeted knight suddenly asked, his eyes a mere glimmer in the light of the lamppost. A hand rested lightly upon the pommel of his sword. "What will become of her?"

The leader of the three turned away from them as he answered thoughtfully, "This girl, Norma Beatty… She knows more about this relic than even our most accomplished scholars. She may know how to use the weapon because of this. If she doesn't, then she can be forced to learn how from our old records of the runic inscriptions of old. Afterwards… I am unsure. It is up to His Majesty to decide her fate."

Sionn turned to the large knight next to them and mentioned, "She does know a great deal about the Legacy and is a talented crystal eren. I've heard rumors that she even knows the secrets of the Relares language. She would be a great asset of Gadoria."

" _Relares_ , peh!" The helmeted knight spat in disgust. "Nothing having to do with those blond-haired freaks of nature can be a good thing; just do away with the girl and be done with it." Even as Norma quaked in place at his words, she saw the blond next to her narrow his eyes and bristle with anger. She grabbed his hand and gave him a quick look in case his eres flickered to life.

The largest knight looked over at him with an expression of displeasure on his face. "Keep your thoughts of vengeance to yourself, Torgeir. Now is not the time for it." He spoke, his voice low and rumbling.

"Oh shove it, Siegfried!" Torgeir spat, bristling in anger. The hand that rested upon the handle of his sword gripped it tightly, as if to turn on his comrade. "That race of seaweed-sucking bastards made a mockery of me and I swear to whatever god there is up there, _they will regret it!_ " Torgeir seethed, his face turning red in fury and embarrassment under his helmet. Walter couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows in curiosity and suspicion. Something about his voice sounded eerily familiar…

"Both of you shut up! Show some respect for General Ragnar! And you call yourself subjects of His Majesty the king…!" Sionn snapped angrily, glaring at the two with fury in his eyes. The two settled down, however the shorter of the two still quivered in rage, his dark eyes blazing.

General Ragnar nodded towards Sionn. "Thank you, Sionn." He turned towards the fuming knight. "Be patient, Torgeir, you shall have your chance at vengeance soon enough. We all will when we use the weapon on the Legacy, after retrieving the artifact…" The knight looked to his general and the other lieutenants and then nodded sharply, finally calming down.

"Siegfried, is Phase Three almost ready?" The general asked the large knight, having to look up at the towering giant to see his face.

"Yes sir." He responded simply with a firm nod.

He looked back to the other knights. "Good, then our plans are running as smoothly as they should be." He listened to the fighting back in town begin to quiet down, and smiled. "The fighting is beginning to die down now. Let us depart."

The three knights saluted to him, fists over their hearts, "For the Holy Kingdom of Gadoria!" They called in unison. The general mimicked them, and four walked back down the hill where they came. After a long moment, their figures and fluttering capes were out of sight.

Norma trembled slightly, her eyes wide and nervous. It was one thing for a bunch of bad guys to try kidnapping one of your friends but it was another for them seeking to capture _you_ instead. Minutes ticked by as the two made sure the knights had departed for good. After a while, the brunette girl popped her head above the low brush they had laid flat against. Her eyes scanned the clearing near the spring cautiously, checking to see if the knights really left. "…are they gone?" She asked quietly, her voice a slight whisper.

Walter watched the pathway carefully for a long moment then slowly nodded. "I can't hear them anymore… They're gone, but I still recommend we stay hidden until the fighting has stopped." He replied his voice low and tense, as uneasy as the treasure hunter was.

Norma scooted close to the blond, edging her way against his chest. She bit her lip to try and prevent a scared sound from escaping. "…Wally?" He looked down at her. "…Not gonna lie, I'm a bit scared."

He rubbed her back in comfort, his blue eyes reflecting her worries. "I don't blame you… I'm uneasy about this as well." He murmured quietly, exhaling a small sigh. "This just proves my fears that Gadoria sent the king's best warriors to get the relic; the war with Rexalia was just a front. The relic is what Gadoria is really after, and it has something to do with their weapon."

Norma swallowed the lump beginning to form in her throat, and she leaned forward over to bury her face into his shoulder. "Is this my fault, Wally…? Isn't it? I mean, I brought the relic to the Legacy, I helped decipher stuff about it. The scholars from my university were the ones who dug it up, but I brought it here…" Her voice was strained, as if it would crack at any moment.

The Ferines shook his head, and turned to wrap his arms against his scared roommate. "For the last time, it isn't your fault Norma. You didn't know Gadoria would be seeking this thing out, and you had nothing to do with your scholars finding it. It was just another ancient artifact from a dig; of course they would study it. And they…" Walter trailed off for a moment, trying to find the right words to say.

There was a long pause before he continued. "…I'm going to be honest with you. I don't know how this war with Gadoria is going to turn out. Nerifes, we might not prevent them taking the relic or completing this weapon they're building. Maybe we will… But, I do know this." Norma turned her face up from his shoulder to look at him. "No matter what happens from here on out, I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

"You promise?" Norma whispered.

The blond tilted his head forward in the slightest of nods. "Promise."

The two fell back into silence, shivering but safe amongst the brush near Lumen Spring. The early hours of the morning didn't help with the cool temperatures however, and after not hearing the ringing sounds of battle in town the two erens were eager to return. Slowly, the two carefully traversed the hill-side path, dodging the few monsters that lingered there in the early morning.

The sky was still dark when the roommates reached the outskirts of town, on the small path between Will's house and the hospital. Norma looked around the empty streets, swallowing hard. It looked so strange for Werites Beacon to be this quiet, even this far into the morning. "…Is everyone still at the entrance?" She asked, turning to face the blond beside her.

Walter shrugged, "They might, although I doubt it. If the battle stopped back a few hours ago then they would already have returned home, though there may be some citizens in the hospital. Depending on how many were injured, Shirley and Will may need your healing eres too."

The brunette nodded, and her grip on her weapon tightened slightly. "Yeah. I should be there helping too." The two started a slower walk up the short distance to the hospital, with a still-shoeless Norma watching for rocks in the street.

All of the lights were on in the hospital, and Norma could see figures running past the windows in a frenzy. As the two approached, they saw the door swing open and a younger girl nearly run into them in her haste to leave. Norma and her yelped in surprise as they narrowly avoided collided. "Ellie?" Norma exclaimed in surprise.

Elsa placed a hand over her chest as she willed her heart to stop beating so rapidly. "Norma? Walter? Oh thank goodness you two are alright!" She said in relief.

Walter nodded, "Yes, we're fine. Do you know what happened during that battle in town?"

"Well, those soldiers attacked in the middle of the night, and after a while they just left. No one was killed, but a few of the fighters are in the hospital in critical condition. I was just running over to ask Will for his help, but since you're here, could you help Norma?" Elsa quickly explained, looking over at the brunette with hopeful eyes.

The treasure hunter nodded quickly, "Of course I'll help! Where's Al anyways?"

Elsa smiled, and gestured behind her. "My father should still be downstairs"

She nodded, and the treasure hunter turned to Walter for a moment, tossing him her bag with the relic inside. "I'll meet you back at Teach's house, okay?" The blond nodded, and Norma turned to run into the hospital, straw clutched in her fingers.

Walter turned back to Elsa, "Elsa, I need to know. Did anyone get hurt from our team?"

She shook her head, but a grim look entered her eyes, "No, but…"

A lump formed in the back of the blond's throat. "Yes?" He asked, feeling a chill pass down his spine in anxiety.

"Well, the group was wondering where you and Norma were at, and hoped nothing had happened to you. Apparently _something_ happened, but I don't know what." Elsa replied, biting her lip.

The lump fell into his stomach as a wave of dread washed over Walter. "Where are they?"

Elsa pointed down the road, "Well, they should be at Will's house still, but—"

Walter didn't wait for her to finish, and took off running. As he ran down the road, the cold feeling inching its way down his spine was not getting any better. Something happened. _Something_ happened to someone in their group… But what? The Ferines didn't think he would like the answer.

x x x

 _Oh dear, things seem a little more sketchy now, don't they? Welp, with my schedule becoming more and more busy you'll still have to wait the normal 2-2.5 weeks for the next update. Maybe less if I have some feedback or a review but… Eh. (Looking at you, Bro-Bro.)_

 _Also, does anyone know what Norma's nickname for Alcott and Elsa were? I went with Al and Ellie, but it still bugs me that I don't know for sure and I haven't gone through the game again to find out._


	8. A Bearer of Bad News

_Finally to chapter 8, yeah! Lots of things made this chapter a week late, among those problems being I lost power for half a week and had to work late the other half. Love my job... :sarcastic: Also, this chapter is a bit shorter since I thought it was a better spot to leave it (cliffhangers, bwahaha!). That and I needed time to finish re-writing the argument at the beginning of this chapter. It hopefully reads a lot better now. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. …Bwahahaha._

x x x

Chapter Eight: A Bearer of Bad News

x x x

Will's house was relatively quiet, compared to how loud the fight outside had been. A few of the Fun Bunch members sat on the couches, others stared out the window. No one really spoke much, especially their white-haired leader who leaned slightly against the kitchen counter. He stood stock-still, but his eyes seemed to writhe with emotions ranging from defeat and despair to utter rage.

Chloe turned her head when the door clicked open and closed shortly after with a loud thud. A relieved sigh escaped her lips when she saw Walter's familiar form walk through the foyer.

Jay perked up at the sound of him entering, and peered around him for a moment. "Oh good, you're back. Where's Norma?"

Walter gestured behind him with his thumb. "She's helping Elsa and Alcott at the hospital. As for the relic, I have it right here." He briefly held up the treasure hunter's bag in his hand, tossing it towards Chloe so it gently landed in her lap. She set it onto the coffee table as the Ferines looked over at Will. "Elsa told me something happened when Norma and I were hiding. What's going on?" Chloe opened her mouth, but seemed to have trouble finding words to say.

The Ferines noticed her hesitation, and let his gaze wander to the other members of the Fun Bunch. The group looked battered and many of them wore injuries that hadn't been dealt with yet. Moses' chest and shoulder were covered in large red-tinged bandages, while Chloe and Senel shared cuts and scrapes all over their arms. Will wore a large bruise on his forehead which had begun to bleed, while Jay held his left arm carefully as if he'd broken it.

Shirley… wasn't there.

Walter's brows furrowed in confusion and he looked in the other corners of the room before asking. "…Where's Shirley?"

Senel's shoulder flinched from his position near the counter, and Walter's eyes narrowed. The blond turned on his heel and strode over to the group's leader. Stopping in place a few feet away from him, he stared at the group's leader without an ounce of humor in his eyes. "Senel, where is Shirley?" He asked again, voice steady but tense; as if he didn't want to know the answer to his question.

The white-haired man didn't reply nor did he look up at him, and Walter growled in response. He turned to the rest of the group, eyes flashing. "Damnit, would you all just _say_ something!? Where the hell is she?!" He yelled, frustration covering his features now.

"She's gone." Senel replied quietly, his eyes shrouded from view.

The blond froze in place, his eyes wide in disbelief and a cold chill running down his spine. He whipped around to look at Senel, his face showing rare unguarded dread as he quietly choked out, "… _What…?_ " It was almost more of a statement then a question, as if he were trying to make sense of it.

Senel's eyes clenched shut as he softly continued. "She was taken by them… Musette and Shirley were cornered by soldiers before Chloe and I could get there. She had Musette run away and she kept them from going after her as best she could. Madam Musette managed to get away safely, but…" He swallowed hard. "When we got there, the soldiers and Shirley were gone. Chloe and I searched the rest of the night but we didn't see or hear from her since then."

"…What?" Walter repeated, not wanting to believe it. He took the slightest step backwards and felt the cold lump in his chest warm with flickers of fury. He didn't take any heed of it as he stared at the white-haired man with incredulous anger. "Shirley was _captured?_ "

Jay and Chloe gave each other worried expressions. From how their Ferines comrade was beginning to react, and what happened the last time Shirley was kidnapped, this conversation would _not_ turn out well. "Walter—" Chloe began, but the blond just spoke over her.

"Are you trying to tell me Shirley was captured by, of all the nations of the world, _Gadoria_?! The exact same country that's been after her ever since the battle with Vaclav?!" Walter growled, his eyes passing icy and going straight to glacial in their level of withheld rage.

Senel raised his head to speak, his own expression showing emotions of tightly compacted anger, worry and desperation. "What are you talking about? They haven't been trying to capture her since—"

The blond interrupted Senel, rounding on him with his eyes flashing like fire. " _You_ wouldn't know because you weren't at the Altar of the Sea. You weren'tthere when Gadorian soldiers were _slaughtering_ —"

The blond stopped himself, taking in an unsteady breath and trying to ignore the rage boiling in his chest. "The entire reason Gadoria sent those knights to interrupt the Rite of Accession was to arrest Shirley for conspiring with Vaclav! A few months later they sent Solon and his shinobi to kidnap her again! The Kingdom of Gadoria only wants her because she's the Merines, she can power the Nerifes Cannon." By then, his voice had steadily grown to a yell, his biting words echoing in the room. "They want the power source to the most powerful weapon in the world sans the Wings of Light, and now they have her!"

The white-haired eren suddenly cut in, glaring angrily at the enraged blond. "Don't you think we already know that, Walter?! We were trying to figure out how rescue her when you walked in-!"

Walter interrupted him with a bark of bitter laughter, his face devoid of all humor. "Oh by all means then, don't let me stop you! It's not like you haven't had ample experience rescuing her already, either from Vaclav or her duties. I'm sure taking on _an entire army_ will be a cinch this time around! It isn't like you haven't had any experience pulling miracles out of your ass at the expense of everyone around you."

Moses' head bounced to and fro between the two, and stood up in alarm. "Now hold up y'all! Ain't no need to bite each other's heads off!"

The two ignored the redhead as Senel's glare intensified, straightening and turning to face the scathing blond. "Why are you taking this out on me? Shirley was protecting Madam Musette, who you forget is the Holy Sovereign of Rexalia. If she got captured the war is as good as over, so stop blaming me for everything wrong that happens!" Senel snapped angrily, his hands clenched into fists.

"I'll blame you if it's your damned fault! If you had been there; if _any_ of you had been there then she wouldn't have gotten captured in the first place!"

Senel shook his head. "Shirley could have defended herself against those knights; Musette couldn't! Shirley did the right thing covering her escape-!"

"And you weren't there to protect her when she needed you most!" Walter roared, his eyes flashing and fingertips shimmering a dark violet.

His teeth clenched painfully as he bit out, "Damn it all, she chose _you_! _You're_ the one she wanted to protect her, and you were supposed to keep her safe! Safe from the likes of Solon, from Schwartz and Gadoria! _Especially_ from Gadoria, what with everything that's been happening with this weapon they're building, with that damned relic! What the _hell_ kind of fucking protector are you if you can't even keep her safe from a few knights?!"

"Shirley _saved_ Musette by distracting those knights! She was captured because she put Musette's safety above hers and you should be helping us figure out how to save her rather than blaming me for everything!" Senel thundered back, his eyes like chips of ice. He saw the blond falter ever so slightly and continued. "Besides, no matter how much I may have screwed in the past, I _always_ succeeded in saving Shirley when it mattered most! Just how many times have _you_ ever saved someone you cared about, Walter!? Before you died the first time I'd say that number was probably _zero_!"

There was a split second that Senel wanted to take the words back, but part of him couldn't help but revel in the brief flash of pain that crossed the blond's face. Then immediately after he saw the light blue eyes darken, and he regretted ever opening his mouth.

In an instant and before anyone could react, Walter rushed at him and slammed an eres-powered fist into Senel's cheek. The heavy blow sent him careening into a wardrobe with a crash, sending books and splintered wood flying. The others jumped to their feet in shock, and the white-haired eren groaned slightly as he lifted his head slightly. He saw the blond step towards him and roughly grabbed the man by his collar, pulling him up to nearly eye-level in a surprisingly show of strength. Senel glared at the blond; even if he knew what he said definitely earned him that punch.

The Ferines glared at Senel with murder in his eyes, his eres shining brightly from his fingers. "How _dare_ you." He began, his voice a low growl of rage. "How dare you assume you know _anything_ about me, you insignificant worm! You have no idea what sort of hell I've lived through nor the kind of guilt I live with every single day. If I _ever_ hear you say something as _monumentally stupid_ as that again…" The hand near Senel's throat tightened. "I'll _break your arms_." Looking entirely like his past self from when they fought in the Mirage Palace where the blond was fighting to kill, Senel believed him.

Walter practically threw the white-haired eren to the floor, the echoes of cracking wood and splinters echoing in the still silence of the room. The blond's glared daggers at Senel, his body shaking with rage as he resisted throttling the man in front of him. Without another word, his fingers clenched into a white knuckled fist as he stormed out of the house, door slamming behind him so hard the windows quivered slightly.

The tension in the room dissipated as soon as the Ferines departed, and Jay rolled his eyes with all the sarcasm he could muster. "Well, that was productive of you, Senel. Please, do try and turn our teammates against us, especially the one with lingering anger issues towards you." He made to shrug, but winced when the movement made his arm twinge painfully.

"I didn't mean to, it just slipped out!" Senel grit out as he gingerly touched the side of his face _That_ was going to turn into a nasty bruise by morning.

"Well, look what ya'll got from that? You gettin' clocked somethin' fierce in the jaw and now we're missin' one of our main fighters." Moses piped up, earning an exasperated groan from Senel.

Chloe shook her head and walked over to offer her friend a hand up. "Coolidge, as much as I can understand your anger, lashing out at Walter isn't how we're going to rescue Shirley. You purposely went after a subject you _know_ is a sensitive one and you wanted to get a rise out of him. Congratulations, it worked." She pulled him to his feet and crossed her arms with a frown. As much as she came to love the man in front of her, he had his moments where he didn't think thins through.

"Frankly, I'm surprised he left with just that." Will sighed, slipping off his glasses to rub at his eyes. "Either way, we know Walter and Norma are safe, and the relic is still with us. We can't do as much unless we learn more about the relic and how it relates to this weapon Gadoria is building."

"Not to mention, Shirley is with Gadorian forces and we don't know their location. They could be anywhere on the Legacy by now." Chloe pointed out.

"In other words, we're sittin' on our asses doin' jack shit. So why ain't we doin' something about savin' Shirley?" Moses stated bluntly.

"Must you state the obvious in such a vulgar way, Moses?" Jay asked the redhead in exasperation.

"Anyway!" The knight cut in with a yell, irritation clear on her features. "Should we focus on rescuing Shirley, or finding out more about the relic?" Chloe quickly asked before another fight broke out this morning. She sighed and looked over at Senel in concern. It hurt her that her own country would do something like this… The possibility of using an ancient weapon against them, and capturing one of her friends; she couldn't help but feel a bit like a traitor to both her friends and her country.

Senel shook his head and drew his fingers through his hair in frustration. "We need to know more about the relic, but… Well, Walter is right, we can't just abandon Shirley! What do we do?"

The others looked at him and then to each other. What _could_ they do? Once again, the group had just lost one of their own, and was hopelessly confused as how to get her back.

x x x

Norma's dreams were filled with odd images, even for her. Usually she got the average dreams other people had; like swimming through gald or finding some legendary treasure. Soon, they had begun to fill with images of her friends as time on the Legacy went by. Then they had filled with Grune after her passing. Shortly after that Walter began to pop up in them too… a lot. This dream she was having was… weird.

Norma found herself walking down the streets of Werites Beacon, but no one was walking down the normally bustling town. Not even a single bird or bug was flying through the air. She was completely alone. She reached the entrance of the town, and saw some peculiar… thing at the entrance, beyond the little drawbridge. It was large and steely grey, but she couldn't tell what it was. She walked to the edge of the bridge, and saw that it was the vast metal deck of a huge battleship. Water seemed to flow under the bridge per usual, only this time it was a vast ocean, and she was easily a hundred feet off the water.

Swallowing back a yelp of fear, she walked across the bridge quickly. The moment her heels clacked onto steel, she heard a heavy grinding sound behind her. She turned and looked back to see the bridge had been drawn up against the walls of the city, with a good couple of yards between either bank above the natural moat. She gulped and looked around the deck.

The first thing Norma noticed was the large deck was on the very top of the battleship, with a bunch of people clad in either blue capes and white lab coats surrounding a large structure of ancient red metal. She walked over, but it didn't seem like any of them saw her. Pushing her way through the faceless crowd, she saw what they were all looking at with wide eyes. It was the same weapon in the sketch Jay had showed them, only solid and very real. The structure's large base looked like it had been battered by the passing of time, with a large panel covered in archaic carvings on top and a large circular slot for the relic in the center of it. Above the base was an enormous cannon, inlaid with different lines and symbols she would never understand the meanings of.

The treasure hunter suddenly noticed she had her bookbag hanging over one shoulder, and gingerly took out the relic. Holding it in her fingers, she swallowed and cautiously approached the weapon, arm outstretched. The red relic plopped into the slot with the sound of stone against stone and… nothing happened. Norma scratched her head for a moment and then an idea popped into her mind. She activated her eres and touched the stone ball with her glowing fingertips

Suddenly, the stone glowed brightly and turned in the hole by itself, stopping when the runic symbols faced her. The magical leylines arching across the strange metal and stone glowed from the relic's power, and began to light up other parts of the weapon. The curved lines curved around the cannon like little lights, and the same runes began to glow in other places around the stone. A distinct hum began to fill the air as the wave of light reached the end of the cannon, where it began to sparkle with power. A small transparent rune seemed to hover in place above the relic, glowing a faint blue color.

Norma tilted her head at all of this, trying to memorize all that happened. Hey, if strange, possibly prophetic dreams had helped Wally save her life, it might work for her too.

Then, she noticed the same floating symbol was also glowing on the front of the relic, and for the first time she realized the two runes were the same. Curiously, she reached down to touch the symbol floating in midair, but the moment her fingers touched them, she flinched as images were shoved into her mind, one after another.

Waves… Ocean waves, and the salty sea breeze. Flash. Rain fell from the sky onto a pristine lake, ripples spreading across the surface. Flash. A giant waterfall she remembered was a popular tourist attraction on the mainland. Images of different rivers flickered in her eyes and then another bright flash blinded her.

She suddenly found herself in the capital of Corinth, shoved into the middle of a crowd at noon. People surrounded her on all sides, walking in different directions like a busy street downtown. Flash. She let out a screech as she ducked and a large man barreled past her carrying a box of food, with others quickly chasing after him. Flash. She sat on a bench at the Fountain, the chatter of gossiping citizens filling the air around her. Flash. Countless unknown faces waved past her vision as if she were running past a line of people.

Norma blinked and she was back on the ship's deck in front of the weapon again, the rune still hovering steadily over the control panel. "Water… and people…" She voiced with a thoughtful frown. Within seconds, cogs seemed to click in her mind as an epiphany truck her. "Water and people! That's what the runes mean!" She ran over and checked the rune again, realizing what piece of information had been evading the Fun Bunch all this time.

She closed her eyes envisioning two symbols she remembered from the alphabet, and they slowly materialized in midair in front of her. She opened her eyes, and pushed both of them together in a certain manner. She was missing one of the water runes, but… they looked exactly like the one on the relic. An excited grin lit up her face as she exclaimed, "The relic's main symbol! It means—"

"… _Ferines_!" Norma shouted aloud as she woke from her dream, her eyes wide in excitement. The girl in front of her started and nearly dropped the cup of tea she was holding. The treasure hunter blinked as she realized she was awake, and smiled sheepishly at Elsa. "…Uh, morning Ellie. Sorry I scared you."

Elsa brought her hand down from her chest as if she suffered a rather abrupt heart attack. "G-good morning, Norma. It's alright, I hadn't expected you to wake so… suddenly."

Norma gave her a curious look at her greeting, and then her gaze turned to the window in the main lobby. Sure enough, bright morning sunshine was beginning to shine through the windows. "It's morning already? How long was I asleep?"

Elsa nodded, her heart rate slowing to a normal speed. "You were exhausted after using your eres so much, so you came down here to relax a little. You ended up falling asleep instead." Elsa gestured towards the crystal eren who was slouched in a chair, her lower half covered by a small blanket.

"Huh. Go figure." The brunette remarked.

The younger girl tilted her head at the girl curiously as she took a long sip from her mug. "…What were you dreaming about anyway? You kept murmuring about a relic or water in your sleep…"

"Oh, I was just studying in my sleep again. Weird, right?" Norma laughed off the question, grinning slightly. Inwardly, she remembered the vision of the ship, and thought it better to keep that a secret from anyone outside the Fun Bunch, Granny Musette and the Bouncers.

"I guess…" Elsa replied slowly, clearly not sure whether she should believe the treasure hunter or not.

Norma stood up and quickly folded the blanket and tossed it onto the chair behind her. She stretched her arms towards the ceiling, feeling her back creak from the uncomfortable position she had slept in. "Man, I'm stiff... Hey, I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat, so I'll be seeing you Elsa."

Elsa nodded with a small smile on her face. "Same to you, Norma. Thank you for all your help!"

"Hey, what are friends for?" Norma asked cheerfully. "Speaking of which, you wouldn't have happened to see where Wally and the others went, did you?"

"Well, Will was looking for Walter early this morning, so everyone is probably at his house." The brunette answered, gesturing in the direction of his house.

After waving goodbye to Elsa, the brown-haired eren stepped out into the warm sunshine, stretching like a cat and enjoying the rays. She promptly realized she was still in her pajamas when she stepped on a rock, but shrugged it off as she walked down the street towards the inn. She'd go change into her normal clothes before meeting Wally at Teach's house… Were they even still there though, since it took her so long to wake up?

Norma shook her head as she passed over the bridge, one of the handrails sporting a large gouge in the wood from last night's battle. "Eh, I'll go meet up with them sooner or later. Besides, I could do for a nice hot shower after what happened last night."

Reaching the inn, she walked inside to see the innkeeper pushing a pile of broken glass onto a dustpan. "Yo, Gramps! Have you seen Wally come back yet?"

Frowning at her nickname for him, he shook his head. "No, I haven't seen him since last night. I've been too busy cleaning up after last night's attack."

"Huh…" So Wally hadn't popped by yet. He must still be at Teach's house "Well, thanks anyway!" Norma replied and tromped up the stairs towards her room. Along the way, she noticed the dings and scratches along the walls where the soldiers ran up the stairs last night. Biting her lip at the memory, she finally reached her room, where the door was left ajar and hanging from one hinge. Poking it with one finger, the door creaked dangerously from the metal hinge and the metal looked close to snapping off entirely. Norma pouted, "Well that sucks! I'll have to get Gramps to replace this later."

Walking inside and kicking the door shut with a foot, she looked around the room. The window blew cold air into the room, and the curtains on either side of it billowed slightly from the slight breeze outside. Walking over to her dresser to grab a change of clothes, she wondered if Walter was still at Will's house. "Maybe he just got tired and slept on the couch." She remarked to herself. Walter didn't sleep well anyways, but maybe he was taking a catnap over there like she had in the hospital's waiting room.

After taking an enjoyable hot shower, she hastily dried off and dressed. Norma walked over to her dresser to find a pair of socks, but noticed something out of place out of the corner of her eye. She looked over and saw a sheet of paper on Walter's dresser. Curious, she walked over to look over it. His familiar bold handwriting scrawled out a lengthier note than usual, with some scratched out parts in places.

"Weird… Wally doesn't really leave me notes anymore. Maybe he thought I wouldn't be back until this morning." She commented with a raised eyebrow, rubbing one of her eyes. She plucked the note off the dresser and noticed his handwriting was less precise than usual, as if he had been writing quickly. Norma shrugged off the observation and began reading.

 **"Norma,"** It started.

 **"If you haven't been to Will's yet, I'll tell you the news now. Shirley was kidnapped by those soldiers last night.** " Norma gasped in horror, her eyes widening in shock. K-kidnapped!? Not Shirl, not again!

 **"Even if we need to figure out how the relic works, I can't just leave Shirley with those…"** There were a few words scribbled out, though she could only imagine it was some horrible insult. **"…Gadorians. They've tried to kidnap Shirley twice before, and at best to make her an example for others or as a bartering piece for Rexalia. At worse, they want to use her to power the Nerifes Cannon. If they have that they could easily threaten Rexalia's capital and barter for the Relic. If they have both that and this ancient weapon they have… I don't think we'd stand a chance in this war.**

"I'm going to Maurits and telling him what's happened so he's in the loop (and none of the others, of course), then I'm heading to the main hideouts on the Legacy. If I can find out where these soldiers are hiding, we'll have a better chance of getting her back.

Please, don't try and look around for me. I'll be fine; I'm used to this sort of thing. Spying used to be my job for Nerifes sake. Just figure out what that relic does and I'll try to be back soon.

Walter"

Norma looked up from the note, swallowing hard as a cold chill of dread ran down her spine. First Shirley's kidnapped, and now Walter's off trying to find these soldiers by himself. She had been terrified of something happening to her friends ever since she saw what the Relic was capable of doing. Now, that fear had come true with the Merines' capture and her best friend chasing after her. The brunette's fears were coming true, and she was sure more would follow.

x x x

 _Well… Crud, that just happened, didn't it? Shirley's been taken by Gadoria, oh no! And no, she really isn't a damsel anymore I swear! She was just overwhelmed by maybe ten guys all at once, and no crystal eren can take out that many at once! And Wally's gone too, oh dear. Don't fret; both of them'll be okay… …I think. Wait and find out!_

 _The combination of runes/Relares for ocean and people earlier is something the ancient European races often did in protection runes. Oftentimes they would combine them for a more powerful effect. For instance, sometimes they would have the rune for strength in a cross pattern to multiply the 'effect', or a few symbols for wealth, prosperity and happiness all in one. Goes along with the idea I had that ancient Orerines also used the same sort of Anglo-Saxon/Nordic runes and perhaps in the same way. Plus, I couldn't resist combining them with Relares because I am a geek for both alphabets._  
 _  
As always, please review! It feeds me inspiration and makes me all-powerful—I mean, makes me write faster._


	9. Answers

_Okay, I understand this chapter is very late, but there are good reasons. First and foremost, editing is a nightmare for me and it's hard to do that at 11 at night. Secondly and more important of the two points, I had an accident at work and couldn't walk on my right knee for the past month. Turns out the cause was a partially torn muscle, which has just now healed enough I could go back to work._

 _Third, I began playing Undertale, re-playing Undertale and am now in the process of living and breathing anything Undertale related. This on top of what's going on with Gravity Falls and my spare time is occupied. Fourth, I'm doing NaNoWriMo again. Managed to barely win this year but a win's a win._

 _Last thing… Well, family emergency took away what remaining free time I had. It didn't end well but… Well, I'll stop rambling now._

 _Either way, also the second part of the last chapter; more-so because there was a great cut point last chapter and this part has been giving me grief ever since I wrote it. And honest lack of any word from some of you is a little… disheartening to put it lightly. Makes me feel like I'm the only one writing Legendia stuff anymore, ha ha… Thank goodness this story just needs editing for the most part or I'd have lost inspiration a while ago._

 _Either way, chapter 9. We get answers and some resolutions and an ending that gave me SO MUCH FRAGGING GRIEF that it still doesn't seem right. Proud of it regardless, but not as much as other parts. Beware of whining, whaaangsting, ect… Enjoy!  
_

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Chapter 9: Answers

* * *

Norma had been shaken by the message left behind by her roommate, but that didn't stop her from needing to meet with the others. After she had finish getting dressed and grabbing the rest of her things, she hastily made her way over to Will's house, pausing by the bakery to grab a quick bite to eat.

She ended up leaving with a croissant; she'd have a muffin instead, but a blond woman with a heavy mailbag over her shoulder grabbed the muffin at the same time she did. She tipped over and ended up sending the two sprawling, the muffin bouncing off her hair and landing on her bag.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to trip you; I just don't know what went wrong!" She grinned sheepishly, one of her eyes straying to the left while the other on stayed in place.

"You tripped, that's what!" Norma complained, but shook her head and helped the blond to her feet.

"Oh, oopsies!" She grinned sheepishly, and much as she tried Norma could just not stay mad at this ditsy woman. With a sigh the treasure hunter forfeited the last muffin and wen to look for something else. This might have explained where all of the muffins usually went in the mornings…

Wiping the last crumbs on her dress, she stepped up to the front door at Will's house. The brunette took a deep breath before pushing the door open and walking into the living room. She looked around the empty room with confusion; wasn't everyone supposed to be here by now? "Hey guys? Is anyone home?" She called out.

"We're o'er here, Bubbles!" She heard Moses' voice yell from the library, and she quickly trotted through the hallway and past the stairway.

The first thing she noticed was the tense expressions on everyone's faces, along with the half-healed injuries they sported. The second thing was the lack of their white-haired leader. "Hey guys, where's Senny?"

Chloe looked up from the book she was reading at one of the desks, surrounded in notebooks filled with scribbled words. "Madam Musette asked Senel to go to the Village of the Ferines with her. They were going to tell Maurits what happened last night." Her eyes became downcast, looking back at the book in front of her.

Norma looked around at the others, probably knowing what they were all thinking of. "…You guys are talking about what happened with Shirl, right?" The rest of the Fun Bunch looked at her in shock, and she elaborated. "Wally left me a note saying what happened this morning. She was kidnapped again, right?"

"He didn't tell you in person?" Jay asked curiously. Even knowing how… volatile Walter's temper could be, he assumed he would see Norma and tell her about the situation at least.

Norma shook her head. "No, I haven't seen him since last night. I don't have a clue where the guy is." Part of her felt bad for lying, but she sensed that Walter wouldn't want the others to know what he was doing. It wasn't any change from when he was hiding from the group anyway. "So how're things on the relic? Find out anything?"

The redheaded bandit gestured towards the scattered books, papers and notebooks all around the room. "If ya can figure out somethin' we can't, go right ahead Bubbles."

Will held up a notebook with some of the notes the group had written earlier. "This notebook seemed to have the most information in it, but I'd appreciate a fresh pair of eyes looking over it."

She nodded and walked over to take it and flip through the pages. There were a lot of scribbled nonsense words in the corners and a few symbols of Relares, telling her this was what Walter was working on the previous day. Looking through a few of the pages, it seemed like he had narrowed down similarities to the other symbols but had gotten stuck after she and Shirley left for lunch. Her fingers hovered over one of the symbols and her dream came back to her in a flash. Water and people. Ferines.

In a rush, she loudly yelled, "I got it!" She slammed the notebook onto the desk and grabbed a pen, sketching out the relic in a rough drawing. "Oh, he was so close, but I know where he was wrong!"

Chloe stood up and walked over to see her madly drawing out the relic and the symbols accompanying it. "Wait, who was close?"

"Wally! He said he had narrowed the middle one down to a few of these but got stuck on it! Ahh, he was close to figuring it out and _I know what the symbol means!_ " Norma babbled out words, almost incoherent in her excitement.

"You figured it out just by looking at a notebook for five minutes?" Jay asked, one eyebrow raised in skepticism.

Norma finished the drawing and starting scratching in the symbols quick as lightning, "Yeah! Look, Wally wasn't looking for translations but similarities! Maurie said the symbols looked like Relares but weren't, so of course they don't exactly match up with the other runes!"

She practically shoved the notebook in Jay's face when he looked over her shoulder and continued. "Look here! We know the outside ones are scribbled Relares made to look like runes! This middle one doesn't look like any of the others because it isn't Relares, but why haven't we seen it in any of the runes we've researched? Because it's two runes combined to make one symbol!"

The treasure hunter ran over to a desk and practically threw books to the side looking for a particular one, causing Will to pale slightly, "Hey, be careful with those!"

Norma nearly cheered when she found the one she was looking for, running back over flipping through yellowed pages quickly, slamming the book next to her doodled sketch of the relic. She pointed at a passage about combined runes. "It says here that ancient Orerines who used these runic alphabets often combined symbols to make a new more powerful one, right? Like someone making a star-shape with this strength symbol to make it better!" She pointed at an example, the tossed the book to the side and plopped the notebook full of notes onto the table, pointing at the seven symbols on the page. "Here Wally wrote down all the ones that are most similar, so it's more a matter of mix and match, right?"

She wrote a number of symbols on a spare page and pushed two of them together. Will looked closely at the symbol and was shocked it was a perfect copy of the one on the relic. "Norma, I don't know how you figured this entire out so quickly, but this is an exact copy of the symbol on the relic. I'm impressed!"

"But we still don't know what it means, although this discovery makes things a lot easier." Jay cut in, crossing his arms in thought.

Norma grinned wildly, the faint pink tinge on her cheeks from both excitement and praise. "Oh, but I already know that too!"

"Are ya kiddin', Bubbles? Ya gonna pull the weapon outta your bag too?" Moses exclaimed, scratching his head and looking like he was getting a headache.

"No, but I know what it looks like! Listen, I have a freaky dream last night—"

"Oh great, prophetic dreams? Norma, that sounds a little much even for you." The ninja replied, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, lemmie finish, would you?!" Norma stomped a foot at the ninja, then got back to explaining while drawing something else. "Listen, I had a dream last night that I saw a bunch of goons in lab coats and armor working on this giant weapon thingie, and I think I know how it works. There was this big console and when they put the relic in a slot a bunch of magical energy was drawn up along of straight channels like leylines. It charged at the top of the cannon's barrel, which is probably how it fires." She showed them a sketch that looked more detailed than the rough sketch that Maurits' spy produced, complete with the faint glowing lines along the barrel.

"Along with that, I remember seeing a bunch of flashing images telling me what the two symbols mean. I saw waterfalls and the ocean on one, then crowds of people and you guys. So water and people. Now who do we know that those words describe to a T?" She gestured to the notebook, raising her eyebrows.

"Radiant…" Chloe answered after a moment, a spark of understanding in her eyes.

"Ferines to be exact. With what I saw and can understand, the relic's target is towards Ferines. So if this is some sort of weapon than the target can be channeled only towards them." Norma finished with an unusually serious expression on her face.

Jay and Will looked at each other briefly. "If this is true, then the other symbols must further augment the type of magic and target. This is especially true if our hypothesis of the relic being a power source for the weapon and this structure simply a conduit for the energy." Jay said, looking at the hastily sketched drawing of the weapon.

Will stood up and walked over to his bookshelves, speaking as he did. "I know I have a few volumes on different types of magical leylines, summoning circles and others like that. Do you think you could recognize which type they are?"

Norma nodded firmly, "Yeah! They're pretty well imprinted in my brain by now."

After a few moments, Will handed her the two volumes, which she retreated to another corner to look over them closely. The historian looked at the other three, "As for us, we may as well try to find out how the symbols connect to each other, and what effect the weapon would have when fired." The others nodded and got to work.

The next hour passed without much communication between the group, or at least it was like that to Norma. She was so absorbed in carefully examining the books that she doubted a dragon crashing into Will's house would disturb her. After time ticked by slowly for the group, Norma finally found one similar enough to mention. "Hey Teach, I think this is the one I saw." She walked over to the others and showed the book to the older eren.

He scanned the page and finally let out a heavy breath. "This confirms my suspicions…" He said to himself.

"Come again?" Jay asked from one of the other desks, two notebooks open in front of him.

Will stood up and stretched, ready for a long explanation. "When we first discovered this relic and the idea that there was a weapon to go along with it, I had a theory about its origin. The relic was dated to the time of the Cataclysm, at the fall of the Kingdom of Terises. Think about what was going on around that time."

"Didn't Nerifes say show us somethin' about a great war between the two races?" Moses asked from his armchair, where he was sitting in it sideways and sprawled across the armrests.

Will nodded. "Yes. There was a great war between Orerines and Ferines, one that lasted for years and killed thousands of people. Although the Orerines created the Nerifes Cannon when the Legacy landed in Shining Blue, the Legacy was at that time controlled by the Kingdom of Terises. The ancient Ferines used it against the Orerines and it caused enormous amounts of casualties, both those humans killed and the Radiant used to power it."

Chloe frowned. "We know that, but what does that have to do with this weapon?"

"Well, think about the situation of the ancient Orerines of that time. They were at war with a powerful kingdom with this powerful weapon that could destroy an entire mountain with one blast. They were at a severe disadvantage. How would they solve it?" Will asked, looking at the group.

Norma snapped her fingers, "They would make their own… They made this weapon to try and compete with the Nerifes Cannon and put the two races in a stalemate again!"

Jay nodded. "That sounds correct, but we all know what happened next… The Merines of that time sacrificed herself to activate the Wings of Light, causing the Cataclysm."

"And the Kingdom of Terises fell with it." Will finished. "With the Ferines losing their power and leader, their kingdom fell. The ancient Orerines no longer had any use for the weapon, especially if it was only half-finished."

"So they hid the two pieces away for thousands of years…" Chloe started.

"Until Gadoria found it again." Moses finished.

The group was silent for a long moment, then finally Will crossed his arms and said, "So, we now know what the relic, and by extension the weapon, does."

Jay gestured with his good arm, his other still healing from the break in it. "It's an ancient weapon developed by the ancient Orerines to attack the Legacy and the Ferines."

"But then the Cataclysm happened, and they abandoned plans to use the weapon." Chloe continued on.

"And it was eventually forgotten… until the scholars from my university found the relic." Norma replied after her.

"And I can only assume that Gadoria found their weapon hidden away somewhere and was looking for the relic before it was found." Jay continued.

Moses waved an arm, "Yeah, so we all know what the thing does. This doesn't do squat helpin' us find Shirley."

Norma frowned and crossed her arms, looking as if she were cold. "Yes it does. We know Gadoria can't have both pieces… If they do then I doubt they would hesitate using it for revenge. With Shirley they would have the Nerifes Cannon too; they could do whatever they wanted!"

Chloe passed the brunette a sympathetic expression. She could imagine that she was just as protective of her Ferines roommate as Senel was of Shirley. Turning back to the conversation she replied, "Either way, the first thing we need to do is rescue Shirley. But where would we start; we don't even know where the Gadorian ship is let alone where Shirley is."

Norma thought about the note in her pocket but ultimately decided not to say anything. If Walter wanted to try and find out where they were, then the rest of the Fun Bunch looking as well would just alert them and send them packing. Walter asked her not to search for him, but she just hoped the blond knew what he was doing.

Will took off his glasses and rubbed the spot between his eyes, "No matter what we decide on, it's too late to do anything today. We're all still exhausted from this morning. We'll decide on our next plan of action first thing tomorrow, but for right now let's get some rest."

The rest of the Fun Bunch easily agreed to Will's suggestion, and without much notice they left his house and said goodnight to each other. Norma noticed Chloe had begun walking alongside her instead of the hospital and instantly confusion flooded her face. "C, why aren't you going back to the hospital?"

Chloe shrugged slightly, "The hospital is full of the soldiers and civilians injured from the fight from last night. Until the spare room is open again, I'm staying at Coolidge's house for now."

Norma's eyes shot towards her hairline in surprise and then a sly grin spread across her face, causing the knight to shift uncomfortably. "Ohh _really_? The two of you are sharing a house now, huh…?" The treasure hunter secretly tallied a point in her mind against Shirley's multiple ones. A small victory was still a victory for the matchmaker, even this late into the game.

Chloe gave her a stern look, even as a blush rapidly spread across her face. "Norma, it isn't like that and you know it."

"So you _aren't_ taking this golden opportunity to snuggle up to him in his bed?" The knight's face turned bright crimson and Norma couldn't help but laugh. "C, If you don't take the first move with this guy then you'll never see anything come out of the feelings you two have for each other!"

"I-I'm not going to do that!" Chloe stumbled over her words, her face burning. "Just because you might doesn't mean I would!"

Norma blushed slightly this time, shaking her head. "Oh no no no, I can't do that. For one, Senny likes you, not me! You've gotta make a move now before we get Shirl back, this whole thing is behind us and you're stuck trying to make the moves on him at the same time she is! Secondly, if I was in your position, I'd just kiss the guy and let my actions speak words for me!"

If anything, the knight's cheeks turned even redder at the thought, but still gave the treasure hunter in front of her a curious look. "Wait, why are you blushing? You're usually not this way when giving relationship advice."

Norma's cheeks heated so fast they burned; realizing the knight was beginning to catch on to the info Shirley had confronted her about yesterday. Dang it, she really was obvious! "Well… it's late and I'm tired! I'll catch you tomorrow, C!" With that, she turned on her heel and ran down the street towards the inn, leaving a confused eren in her wake.

Willing the flush in her cheeks to go away, Norma slowed down once she was out of view from the knight. She slowed her pace to a quick walk, snickering slightly at Chloe's reaction to her prodding. Maybe the knight would do something instead of waiting on the sidelines.

Even with the cheerful thought, Norma felt nervous walking home. It was strange not to have the blond walk by her side, and a small part of her remembered what happened the previous night. She wouldn't have even noticed the knights entering her room had Walter not woken her up. Would she be able to defend herself without another person helping her? As strong an eren that Shirley was, she was still overwhelmed, so what about her? Sure, Will kept the relic safe at the moment, but she still felt… unsafe after last night's attack. She didn't feel as safe without her roommate around.

A small blush appeared on her cheeks as the girl shook her head with a mumbled whine. "Argh, Why can't I stop thinking about you, Wally?" It was like a plague had taken over her mind! Wherever she was, the blond seemed to pop into her thoughts at all hours of the day. Even when she slept, she still thought about him in her dreams… Was she seriously developing a crush on him, even with Gadoria attacking and kidnapping Shirley?!

She shook her head, finally reaching her room on the second story of the inn. It looks like the innkeeper had made minor repairs to the door, so the hinges worked again. The lock seemed to be in working order as well, so she locked it before walking over to her bed. She reached the edge of it, sitting on it and pausing to slip off her tight boots. She dressed in a clean set of pajamas, and was about to pull back the covers from her messy bed before she stopped.

Norma's eyes wandered over to Walter's bed, covers still thrown aside from the night before. Even then, it looked neater then hers. He had this odd little quirk of fixing his bed right before he slept, so no matter how it looked during the day, it was always neat before he slept. Her fingers hovered over her blanket, hesitating in touching it. She gave her comforter one last glance before giving in and turning around to walk to the blond's bed. She jumped up and fell onto it with a large bounce and the slight squeaking of springs.

Norma lay on her back for a long moment staring at the ceiling before she rolled over on her front, her head buried in Walter's pillow. His scent still lingered on the cotton pillowcase; it smelled slightly of laundry detergent, the salty breeze wafting off the sea and something else she couldn't identify. She breathed it in, and felt her eyes begin to water. She hugged the pillow to her cheek as tears silently leaked out of her eyes.

How could this be happening to her and her friends? How could this _keep_ happening? Wasn't it enough that she had lost one of her best friends half a year ago? Wasn't it enough that they had stopped the end of the world with no credit save for those who knew them? She had gone to the university to help out the old man; Zamaran had actually _asked_ for her help and he ended up injured. Walter got hurt just by touching the relic, and Shirley had gotten kidnapped again and by Gadoria of all places, practically the worst country for her to even be associated with! Norma just wanted this parade of bad luck and unfortunate events to _stop_.

Norma buried her face into the pillow and cried. She missed Grune, she missed the old man, she missed Shirley and she missed Walter. For that moment until she went to sleep, the only thing she thought was that she wanted nothing more than for Walter to come back. She wanted things to go back to normal, back when it had been just her and Walter and her friends trying to stop Schwartz. When Shirley wasn't kidnapped and Grune was still alive; when everything was alright and everyone was happy.

Things were simple back then.

x x x

Much later that night, the draw bridge was closed for the evening, trying to ward off the soldiers in case they tried to fight their way into the city again. A few men were posted around the entrance of the town, looking over the trees just in case a surprise attack began. The night sky was completely shrouded in clouds, hiding the moon and stars from view and casting the town in darkness only cut through by the lampposts around town.

As the men watched the entrance, however, a dark shape flew over the walls where they did not look. The shape wavered in the air, as if it was hard to stay airborne. The shape, a winged man as it turns out, fluttered by the window of an inn. Shaky fingers hovered over the lock on the window, easily opening it and slipping inside.

The man hovered over the floor slightly, before his feet landed on the ground. He rasped quietly as he raised a shaky hand, letting the violet wings vanish into thin air. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the man wobbled and collapsed to the floor, gritting his teeth as he held his side. Swallowing back a cough, he made himself sit up and catch his breath. Turning towards the bed in the corner, he noticed in a brief moment of panic its occupant was not there. Instead, she slept in the other bed - _his_ bed - covers kicked away from her and crushing a pillow in her arms.

In the back of his mind, the man pondered about why she was sleeping on his bed, but otherwise ignored it as he softly called, "…Norma?

Norma's eyes twitched as she slept. The blond called again, slightly louder this time and she seemed to wave him away, "I'm sleepin', go 'way." She murmured groggily, snuggling up against the pillow even more.

The blond was about to speak again, but instead a rasping cough escaped him, making him cringe. Norma heard the coughing in her sleep and suddenly seemed to realize that Walter was back. She looked over the edge of the bed, her eyes drowsy. "Wally? Is that you?"

The blond nodded slightly and shakily got to his feet. "Yeah..." He responded quietly.

Norma's eyes cleared and she immediately sat up as her eyes adapted to the dark. Walter, in simple terms, looked awful. His hair was tangled, dark circles colored the skin underneath his eyes and they were dulled from a lack of sleep and weariness. His blue shirt was torn, revealing parts of his black long-sleeved one underneath, and his hand kept inching towards his side. His arms were covered in scrapes and cuts, and part of his cheek was encrusted with dried blood.

"Oh my god, Wally! What happened to you?!" Norma gasped suddenly, jumping off of the bed and rushing over to him. His legs wobbled underneath him, and leaned forwards just as Norma caught him by the shoulders, keeping him standing. "You look like a tram ran over you or something!"

Walter held a few fingers against her lips, effectively silencing her. "Shush, I'll explain everything later. Could you heal me first?" He asked, his tired gaze fixated on her face.

Norma nodded quickly, and helped the blond walked over to the edge of the bed she had been sleeping on. He carefully sat down and Norma looked over him, wondering where he was injured. "Where're you hurt?" She asked, her eyes fixated on the hand clenched over the side of his chest.

He gestured to his side, wincing as he did. As Norma's fingers began to glow yellow, he gave her a serious expression. "Norma, I found them."

The treasure hunter paused for a long moment to stare, "…You found Shirl?"

He nodded and winced when her fingers brushed against the side of his chest. "I don't know if she's with them or not, but my guess is she is… The Gadorian soldiers and their ship are on the southern side of the Legacy, nestled in an alcove on the coast near the Mirage Palace."

"Wait, then couldn't the other Ferines have found them though?" Norma asked, her head quirked to the side to look at him for a moment out of curiosity.

"We couldn't see them before because there's a small mountain range located between the ocean and the Mirage Palace." Walter said. "They're in this enormous battleship, with a large encampment on the beach close by. There must have been over five hundred knights on that beach, I was lucky to get away as unscathed as I did…"

Norma's eyebrow rose in skepticism and then turned an eye at his injured side. " _Unscathed_ , huh? Then what's this, Wally?" She meant to poke him gently and had to quickly scoot away from him to avoid his elbow smacking into her face. She didn't even do it very hard, but he still grit down a muffled sound of pain. Oops.

The blond held his side tightly as he glared at her. " _Norma…_ " He warned angrily, his voice a low growl.

The treasure hunter paled slightly and edged away a little more from his piercing look. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry, I won't do it again!" She quickly responded, holding her hands up in defeat. "Seriously though, did you get into a fight with a really big eggbear or something?"

Walter let himself relax again and let his hand fall from his side. "I got away from the main encampment just fine… But I ran into a small scouting party half a mile away."

"So you picked a fight with them?" Norma asked, her fingers glowing once again and taking that as a sign to continue.

The Ferines looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face. "I couldn't just let them know I had been there. They would have recognized me as a Ferines and attacked the village because of it. And…" He trailed off and turned to look at the window, unsaid implications filling the air in the silence.

Norma stared at him quietly as he kept his eyes averted. Puzzle pieces easily slid into place in her mind. Ohhh, that's what was up.

She shook her head and continued using her healing eres. "You know… To be completely honest, a while ago it would have bothered me a lot to… kill someone." She grimaced at memories of still battle-torn bodies at the Bridge right before they fought Vaclav. She had done her best to avoid thinking about it, but the empty slack faces of the dead still tore at her conscience. "But since we fought against Vaclav and Schwartz and all the other baddies in the past, it's almost old news. So you don't have to be all secretive about it."

The blond turned his gaze towards her, as if she had said something wrong. "That doesn't… I mean…" He began to speak a few times, but had trouble finding the right words.

"Water under the bridge, Wally. How'd you get hurt?" Norma interrupted, turning to stare right back at him, her expression deadpan.

The blond opened his mouth, and then closed it a moment afterwards. She won that battle… "I was defending myself against a swordsman, then someone blindsided me with the blunt side of a polearm. I was injured when _that_ sent me into a boulder nearby." He answered.

Norma nodded, "So, there were at least two guys?"

"Seven." Walter corrected. He noticed her staring at him, and then shrugged slightly. "I can handle myself in a battle, thank you."

"Yeah, you were a pain in the ass back at the Mirage Palace." Norma remarked, reminding the two of a time when they had been bitter enemies. As much as the two didn't like talking about it, the subject seemed to come up a lot. However, like Norma said, that was all water under the bridge.

The blond sighed. "I had to be, even if I did lose that fight…" No matter how much time went by, that short amount of time was his lowest point in his life, before and after he had died in the Wings of Light.

Norma shook her head quickly, recognizing that look on his face. "Hey, don't be like that Wally. You were still a royal pain to fight, and I'm including Vaclav and Schwartz in that equation!" She tugged on his shoulder, making him look at her. "Seriously, even if you lost, you fought us all on your own! That takes some serious determination and guts!" She nudged him affectionately. "Cheer up a little, Wally. If you hadn't have lost that fight, then… you might have remained the jerkass you used to be, and we might not be friends now."

"Since when were you the serious one?" Walter asked, an eyebrow raised at her.

The treasure hunter lightly pushed his shoulder, "Since you were moping around!" Even with this, she still had that slight grin on her face.

After that, Norma finished healing his ribs along with some of the larger gashes and cuts on him. In that amount of time the two were content to remain quiet, as it was still around midnight. The Ferines seemed asleep on his feet, and he unconsciously leaned towards the shorter brunette as her glowing fingers hovered over his injuries.

Norma had noticed the blond's drooping eyes and shook his shoulder slightly. "Hey Wally, are you falling asleep on me?" She asked, leaning over to heal the bloody gash on his cheek.

Her fingertips caressed his face slightly, and he seemed to snap out of his dream-like state to rub at his eyes with the heel of his hand. "Sorry. I'm just a little tired, that's all."

Norma shook her head, "Well, you look more like you're going to slip off into La-La Land to me." She peered over at the clock and noticed how late it was. "We should be asleep anyway." She pushed him slightly so he had to extend an arm to prevent himself from falling over. "Go to bed."

As Norma looked over at her own bed, Walter remembered something from earlier as he slipped off his boots. "…Norma?" He asked, pausing to look over at her.

"Yeah?" She stood up and stretched her arms above her head like the use of eres exhausted her.

Walter's fingers picked at the edge of the discarded pillow on his bed. "…Why were you sleeping on my bed?"

A brilliant red blush spread across Norma's cheeks and she quickly turned away so he couldn't see her face. "Nothing! No reason! I dunno!" The blond stared at her back in confusion, and he could have sworn he saw her twitch. There was a long pause, and Norma finally relented. "...You'd laugh." Norma's mumbling was barely loud enough for him to hear.

He shook his head, looking at her seriously. "I won't."

"Promise?" She asked, her voice a hint higher than usual. Her head turned slightly so he could see the tint of color flushing her cheeks.

"Promise."

Norma was quiet for a moment, hesitating. She finally turned and looked at him, her eyes nervous. "I… I was…" Norma shook her head bit her lip. She started again, just spitting out the words quickly. "I missed you, okay?"

She quickly turned to look out the window not noticing his expression change. "I can't sleep that well without you around. Maybe it's because we've been living together for a while or you make me feel safe, I dunno! It's been like that since I went back to the University and it was like that tonight. On top of that, there's all of this crud going on with Shirl getting kidnapped. With Gadoria wanting to use a super death-laser weapon thing and trying to kidnap me too, I don't know what to think!"

Norma slid down to kneel on the floor, her eyes beginning to water. "I-I just want all of this to go back to normal! Where Shirl isn't gone and we're not trying to save the world and G-Girl is alive again. I just don't want to be…" _…alone._ Norma swallowed her last word as she felt sadness bubbling up again. She was fighting the same feelings of loneliness she had back when Schwartz was still around, and when she was still looking for the Everlight with all her doubts and fears. Try as she might, it was hard to push them to the back of her mind and forget about them.

Closing her eyes, she tried swallowing her tears. "S-so I…" She sniffled, her throat clenching down the other words she tried to say.

As she confessed, the blond stared at the back of her head in surprise and… a small part of him was relieved. She missed him... It was a relief she had as much trouble sleeping without him around as he did her.

Yet, she still held onto wanting Grune back, wanting things back to the way they were. It was like when he had wished for nothing more than to have Fenimore alive again. Just one chance to see her again, to resolve the regrets he had not telling her how he had felt… In the end he got what he wished for; he met Fenimore one final time before he returned to this world six months ago. Norma would never get that chance to see Grune again.

Walter's eyes softened as he slid off the side of the bed, reaching out to tug on her wrist. Norma turned in place to look at him, brown eyes glistening and tears beginning to slide down her cheeks. He knelt next to her and gently brushed away the tears from her face. "Shush… It's alright. Uhm… Stop crying, please?" He started, unsure what exactly to say. He still wasn't good with comforting people.

Norma tried to speak again, only for a muffled hiccup to escape instead.

The blond swallowed hard and tried again. "Listen, Norma. I know you want things to go back to normal, so do I. I wish Grune was alive. I wish _Fenimore_ was alive. But normal to me was being Shirley's bodyguard. If that had never changed then like you said, we wouldn't be friends. I might not be here today…" A blurred, ancient memory ground into the forefront of his mind, and he tried his best to avoid bringing it up. A voice burned in his heart to just spit it out. He's stewed with it in his memories for thirteen years, it was time he shared it with someone, anyone. If only to get his point across and make Norma stop crying in front of him.

Norma noticed he had stopped talking, and looked up at him, noticing a war of emotions playing across his face, as if he were ill. Eyes still watery, she swallowed hard and stammered out his name. "W-Wally?"

Walter's mind finally lost the battle to his heart and he bit the inside of his lip so hard he drew blood. Swallowing hard, he closed his eyes and said, "Normal was… when my mother was still here."

The brunette's eyes widened, the pools of water spilling over as she rapidly blinked.

The blond didn't stop talking. Part of him felt he couldn't. "If nothing had changed, I would have been happy as a child, had a normal childhood. My village wouldn't have been razed to the ground when I was six. Ordinary Orerines who had been taught to hate my race since birth wouldn't have felt correct by slaughtering them. If things were normal, I would have at least been able to find out what happened to my mother. Why my house was destroyed, everyone was dead and she was _gone_."

Images flashed by as he spoke. The acrid smell of charred flesh and grass flooded his senses. His young burned hands trying to pull apart smoldering furniture trying to find some sign, _any_ sign of a long-haired woman with kind eyes and a warm smile. The confusion and horror as a child version of himself sobbed in the middle of a ruined house, crying for his mother to wake him from this nightmare.

A small touch on Walter's shoulder shook him out of that place in his mind, and he stared at the brunette in front of him. She was so stunned her tears had dried up, replaced with horror and sorrow. Norma didn't know what she had expected his past was like, but it was far worse than she had ever imagined. She couldn't even imagine…

The Ferines's eyebrows furrowed together and his watery eyes were full of grief. "…My point was… My point is, things happen. _Horrible_ things happen, and there's nothing we can do to stop it. That's life." He sighed heavily and turned to look at the window, a small crescent moon high in the sky.

"Things can't be normal, but change isn't necessarily bad. If change didn't happen, then we wouldn't be who we are today. Grune would still be alive, but then Will might not have healed his relationship with Harriett. Chloe wouldn't have forgiven Alcott or met Elsa, and Senel and Shirley wouldn't be here on the Legacy. Moses would still rob people, Jay would be an emotionless killing machine and you wouldn't have found the Everlight. I might have been dead years ago. The Cataclysm would have sunk the land. Schwartz would have destroyed it."

Norma's eyes lowered and she slouched in place. Norma always forgot that. Grune was Schwartz and Schwartz was Grune. Two pieces of the same person. If one died, the other did too. If one lived, so did the other. If Grune had lived, Schwartz would have destroyed the world. All of those other things might not have happened if certain events didn't happen. If Wally hadn't died in the first place, she wouldn't be here either; he was the one who saved her.

The blond ran a hand through his hair. "We couldn't stop Shirley from being kidnapped, but there's no reason we can't save her. We still have the relic and they don't. There's still a chance." He looked back at her. "Even if it's small, there's always a chance we can win... right? Something you once told me about never giving up, no matter the odds…"

"No matter what." Norma finished, blinking away the last of the tears in her eyes. A well of hope slowly sprung up in her mind and it brought a small smile on her face.

Walter smiled back at her, however fragile and small it seemed and she felt her heart melt into a puddle of goo. His hands twitched, and then a moment later he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. The puddle of goo exploded into butterflies which fluttered around inside her. Ohhh yeah, Norma had definitely fallen for her best friend. She looped her hands around his neck and buried her face into the crook of his neck, her face red as a beet with a silly smile on her face.

"You stopped crying." He mentioned after what seemed like a small eternity.

Norma nodded slightly, smile never leaving her face. "You've gotten better at comforting people, Wally." _I missed you, Wally. I think I'm falling for you, Wally._

Walter's smile grew slightly, and he let his chin lean against her head. "Only for you, Norma _." I missed you too._ In the deep recesses of his heart, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't falling for her too. _  
_  
x

 _Oh good gravy that was hard writing, both the argument and the entire ending. Writing genius-mode Norma was fun though. I can see her getting as excited as Will when she figures out what a symbol of Relares means, so deciphering the runes were fun!_

 _Yeah, there's Walter's backstory from his own lips, and the only time he'll ever tell it. His life absolutely sucked up until he met Maurits at fourteen, then he was just played like a pawn. You all know the rest. He never found out what happened to his mother, and won't ever find out. For you readers, she didn't live more than a few years after what happened, and she was the one person waiting for him in the afterlife Fenimore spoke of. It truly was a hard choice. I just hoped I didn't botch it by making them severely out of character (more than usual anyways; odd situation they were in)._

 _As always, thank you for reading. See you in the next chapter!_

 _And by the way… Play Undertale. Seriously, it gave me more feels than any game I've played in five years. JUST DO IT!_


End file.
